SISTERS-in-law Zoe and Amanda Smith have set off on a 370km cycling mission to help orphaned and poverty-stricken children in India.

Nurse Zoe, 39, from Alderholt, and teacher Amanda, 38, who currently lives in Northamptonshire but is hoping to move to Salisbury this year, were inspired to do “something out of the ordinary” despite neither being athletes, after Amanda heard about the charity HEAL through her GP.

Amanda said: “We decided a year ago that this was such worthy cause that we would do something out of the ordinary.

“Our family has been involved with Heal for some time and the founder president Dr Prasad was my GP when I was a child in Peterborough.

“He set up the charity in 1992 to provide education and healthcare for around 1,000 orphaned and underprivileged children in Andhra Pradesh, India. It began with the donation of his family home in Guntur, which was to become a home for orphaned children.

“HEAL is now undertaking its most ambitious project to date in setting up a new school and home for 1,000 more children. I am supporting this work professionally as an educational consultant and in supporting development of their fundraising and marketing campaigns this year.”

The pair are currently cycling 370km over five days in the Kerala region of India and will visit the new school and “children’s village” site and one of the existing schools that HEAL supports at the end of their journey. The village, which will be named Paradise, is set to open in June.

Amanda has already been in India for six weeks and has blogged about her experiences at amandainindia.edublogs.org.

The pair are part of a larger group of cyclists raising money for HEAL through the Cycle India event, which is now in its third year. To donate, go to justgiving.com/Zoe-and-Amanda.

HEALis run by volunteers and all the money raised is used for the benefit of the children.

Go to heal.co.uk to find out more.