A WINDOW cleaner is taking a punt at an epic rowing challenge in honour of his Weymouth brother.

Stuart Bates and two friends have embarked on an oarsome adventure which will take them up the River Thames from Twickenham to Oxford in a 26ft Victorian Skiff.

They will be eating and sleeping on board for six days and nights.

Stuart, 41, has never rowed before and is taking up the oars for his brother Spencer, from Weymouth, who suffers from Motor Neurone Disease.

He plans to raise £10,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).

Stuart, from Oxford, is rowing with his friends Lawrie Hall and Julian Tolputt, who are being helped on the way by world champion rower Anna Watkins as their coach and mentor.

They hope to cross the finish line today.

The team’s gruelling challenge is the equivalent of crossing the Channel five times against the tide.

The men, who are all novice rowers, have dubbed themselves ‘Three Dopes in a Boat’ after Jerome K Jerome’s 1889 comic novel which saw three friends row from Kingston to Oxford.

Stuart said: “When my much-loved brother Spencer was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease I knew literally nothing of the condition.

“Upon researching the illness that night, I was devastated to learn that the average life expectancy for sufferers of his strain, progressive bulbar palsy, was between six months and three years from the onset of symptoms.

“Watching him change from a fit, muscular, life-and-soul-of-the-party-man in such a short space of time is sometimes almost unbearable to watch.”

Spencer, who used to drum in the band Balance of Power, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2009.

Stuart said: “He has long since lost the power of speech and now requires nutrition to be fed daily directly into his stomach.

“He requires assistance with his breathing and his body mass is slowly wasting away.

“By far the cruellest aspect of this disease, however, is the fact that trapped inside the body that is shutting down all around him is the same amazing, intelligent, hilariously funny man unable to communicate properly with his wife Nicky or his two young sons Samuel, aged seven, and Isaac, aged four.”

TV and radio presenter Natalie Pinkham is also lending her support to the three man team.

The three dopes have so far raised over £3,000.

They have received celebrity messages of support from four times Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent, rugby league star Sam Burgess who lost his own dad to the disease and cricketers Stuart and Chris Broad, who also work closely with the MNDA through The Broad Appeal.

See threedopesinaboat.webnode.com for more information and to donate visit justgiving.com/threedopes