A FORMER Worcestershire CCC cricketer is taking on an epic journey of nearly 500 miles and climb three mountains to support a county charity.

Gareth Andrew, who played for the county between 2007 and 2015, is joining a team from Haines Watts, where he now works as regional marketing manager, to tackle the Three Peaks Challenge.

The rest of the team is driving up to Fort William in Scotland, where they will climb to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice.

Former Worcestershire all-rounder Andrew will be cycling up instead, before joining them in their climb.

Staff from Haines Watts’ offices in Ashby, Birmingham, Hereford, Tamworth and Worcester will tackle the three highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales in just 24 hours to raise £20,000 for hospice, which cares for seriously ill children and their families.

The all-rounder, who picked up 238 first class and 206 white ball wickets in his career, will pedal more than 480 miles in five days to raise awareness  and ensure the company hits its £20,000 total.

He said: "It is not about me, it is about Acorns, and we want to do as much as we can.

"I will cycle to Fort William over five days before climbing the Three Peaks to try and maximise the awareness and the fundraising element during my journey.

"The closer we get to the big day, the more nervous I’m getting, as I’ve never climbed a mountain, and I’m very much underprepared in both walking and cycling.

"I’m not a cyclist by any means, although I did complete John O’Groats to Land’s End for St. Richard’s Hospice five years ago, so hoping my brain and body will remember bits of that."

The charity needs £27,000 per day to provide its services and it relies on donations and fundraising by the community and local businesses for the bulk of this amount.

James Howard, partner at Haines Watts and one of the Three Peaks team, said: "We’re up to £3000 already and are really going to hit the fundraising hard in the run up to the Three Peaks challenge.

"There are also several other company activities we will be running to generate more cash."

For more information, go to www.justgiving.com/team/HWThreePeaks