When reality TV star Jeff Brazier attended the birthday party of former Norwood president Richard Desmond a few years back, he heard Mr Desmond's son Robert extol the virtues of the charity's bike challenges.

He subsequently joined a Norwood ride in Sri Lanka and has taken on further cycle challenges since, the latest being in Kerala, southern India, with more than 20 other supporters, which has raised well in excess of £100,000.

“It’s been a couple of years since my last Norwood challenge,” he said. “And I really needed to have a break from the day-to-day routine of working and being a dad.

"At the same time, I really wanted to test myself and do something for Norwood, a charity that does such great work."

The 358-kilometre route had been "particularly hard. On the Monday we must have cycled for about 10 hours and climbed almost 2,000 metres. You soon forget about the physical pain though when you’re riding with such inspirational people, like Lawrence from [Norwood residential complex] Ravenswood, who was riding tandem with Norwood sports coach Jonathan Green for the whole week.”

For Mr Brazier, "one of the best things about Norwood challenges is riding with people the charity supports. The amazing effort they put into the cycling is truly inspirational. It’s such a layered, incredible experience.”