AS the assistant manager of Worcester's Dunelm store Gavin Williams is used to being surrounded by comfortable furnishings.

But this weekend he will be swapping all that for a bicycle seat as he and managers from five other stores take on a 205 mile bike ride from Worcester to Carmarthen.

Mr Williams, aged 37, of Gloucester, said: "This weekend it will be 205 miles. We will be leaving Worcester at 9.30am on Saturday. We will stop at every store on the way and get photos with staff. There will be sports themed days at the stores as well.

"We are raising money for Barnardos as this year's registered charity for Dunelm. We started off with a target of £1,500 but we have just gone through the £5,000 mark.

"It should be up to £6,000 or £7,000 and hopefully Dunelm will match fund that."

To get ready Mr Williams has been preparing for his challenge in different ways including riding an eight hour stint covering 169 miles on a bike in store last Saturday (Sept 13).

He said: "I am feeling apprehensive. A lot of the banter between us has been two days, two countries, too little training, but we are determined to complete this as a team.

"There's even talk of two of the managers doing the ride on a tandem bike. But they will take their own bikes as well on the support vehicle."

To support Mr Williams visit Dunelm in Blackpole, Worcester.