COLLEGE tutors are showing some real pedal power to help send students on an African adventure.
Hartlepool Sixth Form College’s head of business Mo Bunter is planning to cycle through the pain barrier to clock up 250 miles for the trip to Ghana.
Mo, also the college’s director of faculty, is co-ordinating fundraising for the trip following the tragic death of geography teacher James Gibson just before Christmas.
She will use a fitness bike in the college gym as a back operation left her unable to use a standard bike.
And history teacher Adam Waller, 26, one of two staff making the trip, recently raised ÂŁ900 by cycling to the top of Mount Teide in Tenerife.
At more than 6,000 feet, it is Europe’s longest cycle climb and is used by Bradley Wiggins to train.
Mo, of Seaton Carew, said: “I had a back operation a few years ago as I had a bent disc.
“It means I can’t do running or cycle as it puts pressure on the base of my back, but it doesn’t stop me doing anything else.
“The reason I’m using this bike is because it is designed for people who can’t use a normal bicycle.
“You sit back in it so my legs do the work and take the pressure rather than my back.”
Mo, 44, is aiming to notch up around 60 miles a week on the bike around her college duties.
She hopes to raise at least £700 for July’s trip to Ghana when students will teach English and maths to young children in Ghana and take part in community building projects.
Twenty-one students will make the trip and the they have to raise the equivalent of ÂŁ1,500 each.
Mo added: “I am not going on the trip myself, I’m just trying to make their dream come true.
“I am going to try and complete the challenge as quickly as possible.”
Adam, who completed the cycle ride with Paul Daly, from High Tunstall College of Science, said: “It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.”
Students have also held race nights, supermarket bag packing and other fundraising events to help them reach their target.