Scott McKenzie, a banking and finance student at Newcastle University currently living in Jesmond, aims to raise money for the charity Dig Deep by cycling from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall, followed by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, in a combined total of 15 days.

McKenzie hopes to complete the journey of over 950 miles in less than nine days with his support crew helping out with any technical issues. After completing the cycle ride, he hopes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, which stands at over 20,000 ft tall, in six days.

Dig Deep, the charity for which McKenzie is raising money, works in Kenya and helps give people access to clean water as well as sanitation.

Since its foundation in 2007, the charity has given 27,000 people better access to water and hopes to increase that number to 46,000 people in the coming five years.

McKenzie told JesmondLocal: “I just want to push myself. I have never really taken on a big challenge and always wanted to do something for charity. I have always liked cycling and in my mind I was always going to do John O’Groats to Lands’ End and thought: ‘Why not do it now for charity?'”

McKenzie is currently a cyclist for food delivery app Deliveroo and hopes to complete the challenging Coast to Coast challenge from Whitehaven to Tynemouth as part of his training for the charity challenge.

More information on the challenge can be found here, while donations to the cause can be made here.