A FORMER headteacher is heading out on the open road to raise funds for his old school.

Tom Leech, who retired in the summer after 13 years in charge of Milborne St Andrew First School, is peddling his way 1,000 miles around the country for the cause.

Mr Leech, 60, from Upwey, opted against the quiet life of retirement and is instead putting his body on the line as he takes on the mammoth challenge from this Friday.

He said: “I’ll be going up to Bristol then into South Wales and up through Wales to Liverpool.

“It’s then across to Manchester and York, where my partner Debbie will be joining me for three nights and I’ll have a bit of a break.

“From there I’m going across to Grimsby, down the east coast to Kings Lynn and down through London, Brighton, Southampton and back home. I want to stay off the main roads if I can and I’m looking to take cycle paths wherever possible.”

The route is just under 1,000 miles and Mr Leech says he aims to be back for his wife’s birthday on October 7.

He said: “The idea behind it was that I just wanted to stay active.

“In the past I have got involved in marathon running and in recent years I have got into cycling. I used to cycle to school and back.

“Now I’ve retired I’m keeping my options open and it’s an opportunity to give something back to the school.

“The school doesn’t have a lot of money and if I could raise some for them it would be really useful.”

Mr Leech said donations can be made through the school, which is organising the fundraising side of his challenge.

He also paid tribute to Weymouth cycle shop Tilleys who, on hearing of Mr Leech’s challenge, offered to service his bike and get it up to scratch for the ordeal ahead free of charge.

He said: “The only thing I’m not looking forward to would be if there is torrential rain or other bad weather, but I will be mainly staying in B&Bs so if it’s too bad I’ve got the option of holing up there for 24 hours.”