Andrew Jones a chartered accountant from West Sutton is among a crew of men who will be rowing from London to Paris in May for two children’s charities.

After an accident on the Thames in September last year which left them swimming for their lives, a team of 12 men from the South of England, known as The Reivers12 have carried on training for The London 2 Paris Rowing challenge in May with grit determination to raise £100,000 for two children’s charities.

The race will take the crew from Big Ben, along the River Thames, across the English Channel and up the Seine to the Eiffel tower, a distance of 480 miles, using an old-fashioned 'cutter'. There will be no modern rowing technology for them – the cutter is simply made of wood and fibreglass and rowing will be very hard work!

A story hit the national headlines in September last year when seven members of the crew had to swim for their lives after their craft was struck by a 125ft catamaran during one of their early 38 mile training runs from Richmond to and from Tower Bridge.

The crew of a passing Metropolitan police launch witnessed the accident and were on the scene in seconds to pluck the rowers to safety. An RNLI lifeboat was also launched and reached the scene in minutes. Rescuers said the crew members were lucky to be alive – there was only one serious injury.

The men, now a 14 strong contingent of 12 rowers and two reserves, captained by Mike Hosie from Farnham, have acquired a replacement cutter and are now heading for the most intensive period of training which includes all-weekend rowing sessions at Hayling Island throughout March. They will then be back on the Thames throughout April in the run up to the race.

Andrew (50) a chartered architect from West Sutton was a competitive rower in his twenties culminating with rows at Henley Royal Regatta in 1986-87 for Oxford Brookes University and Twickenham Rowing club respectively. However, he abandoned rowing in 1989 for marriage, family life and running his own Architectural Practice.

An invitation to row for Twickenham Veterans as Andrew approached fifty followed by an amazing encounter with the “Reivers12”, rekindled his passion for rowing and this challenge will be a unique experience and opportunity to raise significant monies for a charitable cause.

The 2010 London 2 Paris Rowing Challenge will start on the morning of Sunday May 9 and should finish at about 8am the following Saturday, May 15. The key factor that dictates these dates is the need to row the tidal section of the Seine (from Le Havre to Rouen) in daylight and with the tide.

Although the men have very different backgrounds and a variety of reasons for signing up for this gruelling challenge, they all share a sense of adventure and a desire to raise over £100,000 for their two chosen charities, CHASE hospice care for children and Children with Leukaemia.

To find out more about the event and how you can sponsor the crew via Virgin Money, visit www.reivers12.co.uk