Twenty-five members of the Criminal Justice Unit (CJU) in Rayleigh will be walking, running and rowing their way 'to Belgium' to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity on Tuesday, November 11.

Starting just after the two-minute silence at 11am, the fund raisers will start their 24-hour challenge to walk, run and row the equivalent distance from Rayleigh police station to Ypres in Belgium.

Using the equipment from the station gym, the participants will take turns, changing every hour to achieve the 288km in one day.

Criminal Justice Unit manager Sharon Burton said: "Several of us have been involved in other charity events before and we wanted to show our support for this particular charity.

"I first thought of running to Paris but then it was suggested to go that one step further and use Ypres in Belgium as our destination.

"Many of us within this department have a connection to Ypres and the First World War in some way and so thought this would be a great way to pay our respects and raise money for a really good charity. So far we have raised £300."

The town of Ypres was completely destroyed during the Great War and has been rebuilt.

Help for Heroes was launched in 2007 and raises money for servicemen and women who have been wounded in action.

For further information about Help for Heroes, visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk

To sponsor the CJU team, call the Essex Police non-emergency number on 0300 333 4444 and ask for the Criminal Justice Unit at Rayleigh police station