A trio of school friends are to walk home to Suffolk for Christmas all in the name of charity.

Sam Norman and his friends, Harry Hogg and Fred Newton will all be taking on the challenge of walking from the Cenotaph in London back to Woodbridge School.

The challenge will be part of the Walking Home for Christmas fundraiser which is run by the charity, Walking with the Wounded.

Usually those taking part select a much smaller challenge but Mr Norman and his friends decided to push themselves further, all in the name of raising money.

Ipswich Star: Fred Newton is used to covering long distances in ultramarathonsFred Newton is used to covering long distances in ultramarathons (Image: Sam Norman)

"Often people do a 10km run," said Mr Norman.

"We all went to Woodbridge School so I thought why don't we go back to school and go home."

Walking with the Wounded is a charity which helps veterans.

The cause is very close to Mr Noman's heart as he is a member of the army reserves himself and his father was also in the military.

"Walking with the Wounded is an awesome charity," said Mr Norman.

"And on a personal level I want to end the year on a high."

The group will leave London on December 21 at around 10am.

"Then we will walk non-stop back to Woodbridge," said Mr Norman.

The route is just over 100 miles in total and the boys think they will make it back to Suffolk by lunchtime December 23.

Rather than split the journey into several legs to do over the three days, the boys will be going non-stop and will not be sleeping until they get back home to Woodbridge.

The friends are no strangers to tough physical challenges.

Mr Norman and Mr Hogg kayaked 2,500 miles down the Mississippi River for Help the Heroes back in 2013 and Mr Newton regularly runs "ultramarathons" - which are longer than the standard 26 miles - for fun.

"All three of us enjoy fitness," said Mr Norman.

"It's definitely a challenge but we are all a bit mad.

"The hardest part will be trying to do it non-stop. Sleep deprivation will be the real challenge."

The friends had hoped to raise £500 for the charity, but the current total on their crowdfunding page is over £1,000. They hope this can be stretched to £2,000 by the end of the challenge.