A 79-year-old Wiltshire woman has just cycled 282 miles from Bradford on Avon to Manchester to support the cause of West Bank Palestinians.

Judith Hammond has raised more than £3,110 to enable a secondary school at Tubas in Palestine to buy equipment for a £15,000 new language laboratory.

Mrs Hammond, from the Bradford on Avon Friends of Palestine group, cycled to Manchester via Cirencester, Stratford upon Avon, Leicester, Derby and Stoke on Trent.

She and her cycling buddy Michael Weltike set off from the town’s Castle Inn pub on Monday, July 25.

She said: “Michael and I had a great send off from the local Castle pub. We averaged 40-plus miles a day.”

On Friday, Mrs Hammond joined 200-plus Palestine supporters in Derby for The Big Ride to raise funds for Children in Gaza and to keep the Palestine issue alive.

En-route, they took a slight detour to join a protest at the JC Bamford headquarters near Uttoexeter.

On Saturday, a record 270 cyclists started out on the last leg, finally arriving on Sunday for a rally at Platts Field Park in Manchester.

The Big Ride funds will be matched by The Amos Trust up to £15,000.        

To donate, click here.