THREE air cadets from Swindon will take part in a “deathmarch” to raise money for charity.

Sascha Hale, Ryan McGlen and Daniel Foxwell will walk 100km in just 24 hours during an annual endurance event in Belgium.

The event – officially known as the 40th annual Dodentocht – is so gruelling it has become known as Deathmarch.

The trio will fly out to Belgium on Friday, before taking on the event for Help For Heroes over the weekend.

The group completed the same distance over a four-day event in Holland two years ago but said they are ready for an even bigger challenge.

Sascha, 17, from Christie Close, in Eldene, said he was excited to get going.

He said: “We know it’s going to be tough. To do it over four days was hard enough but this is going to be a real challenge.

“We have done some training leading up to this and obviously we did a lot of training leading up to the walk in Holland but we know its going to be difficult.

“The advice we have been given is that it is all about your mental attitude. It’s 50/50 between mental and physical toughness but if you don’t believe you can do it then you will really struggle.”

The New College student, who is planning to study dentistry at university before joining the RAF, said the group was hoping to raise £1,000 for their chosen charity.

He said: “We all wanted to support Help For Heroes because of the military connections. We are all from the air cadets and we appreciate the good work they do.”

Ryan, 22, from Ferndale Road, said: “It’s important to support the people who are fighting on our behalf and we want to raise as much as we can for them.”

Ryan said he was not worried by the prospect of the deathmarch, which will see 10,000 people descend on the Belgian town of Bornhem.

He said: “I’m not as prepared as I would ideally like to be but it’s going to be a great challenge and we are all up for that.

“I do a lot of walking and keep myself fit so I think we can do it.”

To donate go to www.just giving.com/danielfoxwell helpforheroes.