TWO teenagers will get on their bikes to fund their work with orphans in Sri Lanka.

Esther Eldridge, aged 16, and Alice Hill, aged 15, will cycle 38 miles from Manchester to Liverpool on May 30 to pay for two weeks’ work experience in south Asia in July.

The girls will complete the trek with Maria Hill, Alice’s mum.

The pair need to raise £2,000 to go on the trip, organised by Projects Abroad – a company specialising in work placements for students.

Esther, of Taplow Close, Appleton, said: “We wanted some experience and wanted something that would give us an insight into the world.

“We thought that working with children would be important because they are the future generation.”

The year 11 students also want to make the most of the long summer break after finishing their GCSEs.

Alice, of Hatfield Gardens, Appleton, and Esther will spend their mornings building and painting the orphanage and in the afternoons they will help with homework, reading or arranging sports games.

The volunteers will work in orphanages and day care centres helping children to learn the alphabet or organising activities, such as arts and crafts.

During the weekends they will go rafting or try out water sports.

Alice, a pupil at Cransley School, Great Budworth, and Esther, a Bridgewater High School student, will soak up the Sri Lankan culture by staying with host families.

Esther said the cycle will be challenging but said they had been training by attending aerobics classes and going on bike rides.