PEDAL power is propelling St. Antony's Catholic College student Solomon Cuthbertson towards his £400 target to pay for his once in a life time trip to poverty stricken Romania.

The 15-year-old is one of 16 students and three staff preparing for the Urmston church school's seventh trip to Sibiu, where they encounter some of the poorest living conditions anywhere in Europe.

Each pupil has to raise their own funds for their passage and living expenses and then have some left over to buy essential educational supplies, gifts and toys for the children they will meet in Eastern Europe.

Solomon, who wants to train as an army officer at Sandhurst, decided to raise his share by cycling every day from his home in Old Trafford to St. Antony's in Urmston, some 5.1 km away.

Solomon said: “I put the £10 it would normally cost to come in by bus each week into a jar for Romania. I worked out the idea with my dad, using one of my granddad’s old bikes so it's being a real family affair.”

Solomon has a long held ambition to become an army officer and added: “The cycling is certainly helping my fitness regime and hopefully the trip will prepare me for some of the challenges I might encounter in military life.”

The party led by St Antony's teachers Emma Doherty, Lisa Adderley and Tom Derbyshire departs on July 8 and sees the children work with children from orphanages, primary schools and secondary schools in Romania for a week.

Emma Doherty, who is St. Antony's Progress Leader for Year 8, said: “It has a genuinely life changing effect on our pupils. They come back far more appreciative of what we have in this country and I would say more generous, kinder and more tolerant individuals.”

Lisa Adderley, Year Seven Progress Leader, said: “The children are now busy doing a whole range of weird and wonderful fundraising activities such as sponsored silences, car washes and cake sales and the teachers can't move for sponsorship forms.”

Former pupil Tom, now on the P.E. staff, added: “I didn't go myself when I was a pupil but I heard from those who did go just what an eye opening trip it had been, so when I joined the staff I made a point of joining the staff team on the Romania trip.”