Friends of a heartbroken mother who set up a charity to fund vital research into the rare cancer that killed her son are taking on the challenge of a lifetime in a bid to raise thousands of pounds in his memory.

Rob Holland was 15 when he died after a brave battle with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour and his mum Amanda Dunkerton says there is “no way” she will ever give up raising cash to fund research into the rare disease through their charity, RobsARTTT.

Ten years on from his death and Amanda, from High Wycombe, is still finding ways to raise thousands of pounds a year for the cause – with a little help from her friends.

Mandy and Chris Veal are currently taking on a gruelling three month, 2,774 mile bike ride from Banff in Canada to the Mexico border, taking just a tent and supplies with them, and have so far raised more than £2,500 in memory of Rob.

Amanda said: “They are having a proper life experience and they are having the time of their life, which is something Robert really loved. He loved making people happy. He was a joker, like Jack Black.

“They are so lovely, they’re great friends. Chris has even given up his job to do this for Rob.”

The pair set off on their journey on July 1 and are not expected to return to the UK until October 1.

In a statement on their JustGiving fundraising page, they hailed their love for Amanda as their motivation, saying: “We never forget that Amanda has the challenge every day to live without her son but she continues to raise funds to help prevent this happening to others.”

Since the Holmer Green Senior School pupil’s death in 2007, RobsARTTT has raised more than £231,000 for research in the UK. The cause has been Sainsbury’s charity of the year for two years and is currently Dun and Bradstreet in Marlow’s charity of the year.

Amanda added: “The charity is the only positive thing to come from a child’s death. We are in our seventh year of fundraising now and the charity is a big thing for me. I can’t give up, I have to keep going. Rob was so brave, he is my hero and we have come a long way in 10 years.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mandy-veal.