THREE members of staff at a Boscombe primary school will be taking on a mammoth 500-mile cycle ride across the south of England in a bid to promote reading to their pupils.

Their efforts come as part of Kings Park Academy’s ‘Read & Ride-a-thon’ which aims to “enthuse” children with reading and also to raise money to help update the school’s library.

At the end of the school year, the trio will set off from Broadstairs in Kent stopping at a number of places on the way to read on the 530-mile route to Land’s End.

The team, reception teacher Matthew Jerrams, head of Year 2, Jemma Heckford, and site manager Nigel Fox, is hoping to raise thousands of pounds to modernise the school’s library.

Mr Jerrams said: “There are three main aims for what we are doing.

“Firstly, we want to enthuse the kids, reading is a huge part of primary schools and we want to encourage that even more.

“Secondly, the library could benefit from some investment and, thirdly, if possible we want to help support other local charities.”

As part of the wider event, the school will also be hosting a family fun day on July 14 and a talent show competition.