A 64-YEAR-OLD woman from near York is gearing up for an epic 1,000-mile bike ride to Spain for charity.

Elaine Hirst is preparing to cycle from her home in Bishop Wilton, all the way to Cadiz in southern Spain in aid of the charity War Child.

The mother-of-two is retiring on Monday after working for 25 years in Doncaster building and co-leading a community arts organisation - Doncaster Community Arts (darts) - which works with individuals who do not think that the arts are for "people like them".

To mark her retirement, she is taking on this gruelling challenge, starting on August 25, and aims to complete the journey in less than a month.

Elaine only started riding long distances about five years ago.

"The ride will be a mega, personal, physical challenge," she said.

"It was only last year that I first cycled 100kms in one day in the Heart of the Wolds Sportive.

"I have ridden the Tour de Yorkshire for the past three years starting with the short route and graduating to medium for the last two.

"My longest duration of ride is five days - I have ridden a Sustrans route for the past four years, starting with Way of the Roses to celebrate my 60th birthday, and my average daily distance to date has been 80kms."

During the challenge, Elaine will ride from York to Portsmouth, then board a ferry to Santander over to Los Picos to join El Camino de Santiago, a pilgrim route. She will pedal to Leon and then south on La Ruta de Plata, another pilgrim route, to Seville and onwards to Cadiz.

Explaining why she is raising funds for War Child, she said: "I am especially interested in War Child because it was founded by two filmmakers working in former Yugoslavia in 1993 who were so shocked by the impact that war had on the lives of children who were utterly powerless victims. Over the years famous musicians have performed benefit gigs and recorded albums for the charity and raised its profile. Music therapy has been used to heal children traumatised by war and ongoing, when appropriate, other creative approaches are used in their work.

"I also like War Child because it works long term in six countries, so that its work is focused and can have long lasting healing benefits for the children it works with."

Elaine, who speaks Spanish, hopes to raise awareness for War Child in Spain as well as the UK through press stories and radio interviews, with the help of the charity's press office.

To support Elaine and make a donation, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/1600kmstocadiz

Elaine is aiming to secure sponsorship from as many sources as possible in cash or in items that are needed for the ride or free accommodation.