Brothers are getting ready to cross the English Channel in kayaks to help raise money for a dementia charity.

Jamie and Jonny Levy, from Hampstead Garden Suburb, will be joined by five friends as they leave dry land behing for a gruelling six-hour, 25 mile paddle from Kent to Boulogne, in France.

The group, aged 26 and 34, have already raised £5,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK between them.

They will travel in individual kayaks across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and their boats will be fitted with specialised radar and tracking systems.

Jamie, 34, said: “As a group we try and do something every year for charity that’s outside our comfort zones and this year we really wanted to do something extreme.

“Before we came up with the idea we didn’t have a clue even how to get into a kayak let alone paddle. It’s been a steep learning curve but we’ve been training as and when we can over the past six months.

“Kayaking takes a lot of upper body strength and while I’m not sure any of us will be taking it up in the long-term, it is a truly great sport.”

The group have been taking regular trips to the coast to train and have also practiced with a 20km kayak on the River Thames.

He added: “We had a vote about who to raise money for this year and we all decided Alzheimer’s Research UK was the perfect choice. We’re all living longer, so a lot more people are going to be facing dementia in the future and we wanted to help do something about it.”

The group leave on Monday, September 15 and will return on Friday, September 19. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/kayak-the-channel