Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

A Wigan pensioner is taking on an epic solo charity cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats.

Dave Oxley is taking on the 874-mile journey on his own with no support van following him along the way.

The 71-year-old from Standish is a keen cyclist and goes out on his bike twice a week with a group called the Standish Panters.

He is raising money for Saving and Rehoming Strays (SRS) charity, a small SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) based in Ayr with a mission to rescue and rehome dogs in the UK and Europe.

Dave Oxley from Standish, is preparing for an epic charity cycle, from Land's End to John O'Groats, to raise funds for Saving and Rehoming Strays charity

Dave said: “I’ve cycled from London to Paris and done the Trans Pennine trail from Southport and done the Morecambe to Bridlington one.

"Its a progression really if you’re into cycling to do a long distance route.

"I’ve always wanted to do Land’s End to John O’Groats after watching videos on YouTube.

Wigan borough pub boss speaks out on opening event where ’40-man brawl’ and fire...

David pictured with his dogs Heidi and Leon

"As you get older, you’re not as fit as you were 10, 15 years ago so I thought I’m running out of time and I want to do it before I’m too old to do it.

"I thought I might as well combine it with a charity.”

Dave and his partner Pat came across SRS four years ago which is run by Claire Louise Revis along with the help of volunteers.

Claire, who was inspired to set up the charity by the late Paul O’Grady, has helped more than 2000 dogs.

Dave and Pat have two rescue dogs Leon, who is from SRS, and Heidi who came from Cyprus.

They hope to raise £10,000 for the charity.

Dave said: “They’ve got around 40,50 dogs now so the money will help with day to day running and any maintenance that they need."

Pat said: “We got Leon about three and a half years ago.

"The first dog we got from there was called Teddy and he’d been in some form of accident in Romania and he had a head injury.

"He had epilepsy and we found out it was more than that and he had really bad brain damage.

"Wek kept him for about a year because we thought we could make it right but we couldn’t.

"This is what really got us into Claire’s rescue.

"I emailed her to tell her we were struggling and she said bring him back

"We never intended to we just wanted some advice

"We knew we wanted another dog and she had a dog called Suzie Q who was picked up pregnant and Leon was one of her puppies.

"We chose him because he was born with no tail.

Dave is heading down to Land’s End with SRS trustee Ian Allcock on May 7 before setting out on the ride on May 8.

He hopes to complete it in two weeks.

Dave said: “Because my accommodations booked along the way, I’ve somewhere to aim for each day.

"I’m apprehensive but excited at the same time.

"Ian’s taking me down their and then Dave Ashcroft from the Panters is bringing me back.”

You can donate to Dave’s cause by visiting gofundme.com/f/saving-and-rehoming-strays-srs.

People are also invited to join Dave at any point along the route and anyone who wishes to do so should contact his Facebook group where you can also follow his progress: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1837871946599924/

Super-fit Wigan cyclist takes on Land's End to John O'Groats challenge