AN AMBITIOUS student is hard at work training for a rowing challenge to raise money for a veterans' charity.

Pershore High School student Ellis Morris, aged 13, is preparing to row more than 100 miles in aid of Return to Normandy – a charity which escorts veterans to France for annual commemoration events.

He will cover 126 miles – the distance between Portsmouth and Normandy, France – on a rowing machine at the Pershore Leisure Centre during the May half term holiday.

The youngster was inspired to take on the challenge after visiting Normandy with a group of D-Day veterans.

Sharon Keen, marketing manager at Rivers, which runs the leisure centre, said: "It's great to see somebody so young really push themselves to raise money for charity.

"It's been a pleasure to help Ellis with his training and I wish him all the best for his challenge."

Ellis hopes to raise £1,000 for the charity, which also enables veterans to visit places of personal importance, and attend memorials and cemeteries where comrades are buried.

He has been training for between one and two hours every day for three months, and expects the challenge to take 18 hours over nine days to complete.