A FITNESS instructor and his blind friend have launched an ambitious charity challenge that will see them take part in a series of physical challenges – all while riding on a tandem bike.

Yoann Adam from Walingford and Nathan Tree from Wheatley will begin their year-long challenge on Sunday starting with the Bicester Triathlon.

They hope to compete in a number of challenges for five different charities culminating in an ambitious climb up mount Kilimanjaro for New Years' Day.

Explaining the motivation behind the quirky quest Mr Tree said: "I have been losing my sight for a long time, since I was 20.

"I am 28 now and I just thought it is nice to get people to help us.

"Also there are a few charities that mean a lot to me and I want them to be able to help other people too – I would love to be able to give back something to them."

The pair – Team Tiger, hope to raise £1,000 for their charities which include Oxfordshire Association for the Blind and Helen and Douglas House.

So far with their Virgin Money Giving fundraising web page they have secured £150 in donations.

They are also appealing for help from people to give up not just their money but their time, too, and are seeking somebody to help maintain the bike throughout the various challenges.

Mr Tree added: "It is a real challenge – I have real trouble navigating and Yohann has been a great help to me.

"The training is really challenging and sometimes my sight just completely drops and I have no idea where I am anymore."

Charity partner Yohann Adam, 34, said the training regime was indeed challenging.

He added: "The more we push him with exercise, the darker it gets in his eyes so it’s more difficult.

"The idea for the events began after we started to do fitness in the middle of January, and we then thought – 'why don’t we do some events to see how far we can go?'.

"Of course doing it alone would not be possible because of his condition so I said I would come and help.

"Everything we do is very challenging so we have to make sure we are connected using the tandem bike.

"We thought we would push ourselves even more so that people understand that if a blind person can do these sorts of events then anybody can get fit. There is no limit."

The bike was donated to the pair by charity Charlotte's Tandems and was previously used by paralympian cyclist James Brown who won bronze in-tandem at London 2012.

To sponsor the pair or to get involved visit the Tiger Powers' fundraising page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/TigerPower