EIGHT men are making their final preparations before embarking on a marathon effort to raise cash for two Dorset hospices next weekend.

On Saturday, the team will attempt to pull a two-and-a-half-tonne Nissan Cabstar truck a whopping 26 miles, starting from Boscombe Pier and expected to take nine hours.

Their efforts will raise money for Lewis-Manning and Forest Holme hospices.

They hope to raise £10,000 and have already drummed up around half of that through pledges from family, friends and businesses.

Westover Nissan has supplied the lead and follow-up vehicles for the feat.

The team – Matt Sturgess, Paul Cave, Dave Welstead, Lee Craw-ford, Dafydd Wright, Josh Aplin, Mark Vukcevic and Harry Lauste – will push and pull the truck from eight different points around the vehicle, rotating regularly to minimise the strain on their shoulders and arms.

They expect to notch up an average speed of three to four miles per hour on the 26-mile round route, which sees them depart from Boscombe, taking in Hamworthy, Upton, Broadstone and Parkstone before returning to their starting point.

Matt said: “We’ve been training since the summer, gradually building up the distance we travel.

“The furthest we’ve done so far is 19 miles – we’re saving the biggest challenge for the day, like a marathon runner would.

“We’ve all been personally connected with the hospices and that’s really spurred us on when we’ve been feeling our most weary.

“We hope lots of people will turn out to support us and perhaps make a donation to the Lewis-Manning and Forest Holme Hospices.

“Last time we went out training we collected £465, so we’re hopeful that we can significantly boost our funds on the day.

“We’re really looking forward to getting out there and getting the Big Pull under way now.”

An all-electric Nissan Leaf from Westover will support the team on the day.