MEMBERS of wacky Surbiton club Homage de Fromage are gearing up to transport five cheeses from their local pub to Calais, to show the French we Brits know our cheese.

Last month they hosted a tasting event at the Houses of Parliament, and MPs selected four British chesses – Barkham Club, Rosary Goats Cheese, Saval and Cornish Yarg – but the final cheese, the humble cheddar, was picked by regulars at The Lamb pub.

Slabs of each cheese will be carried by 30 cyclists, as part of a sponsored ride, 80 miles to Dungeness, on Sunday.

One of the cyclists, Rob Smith, will then use a special cheeseboard to kite-surf the cheese across the Channel to Calais where he will tuck into "le grand picnic". He said: "It was an obvious idea and a great way of demonstrating to the French our love of British cheese and our ability to raise money for worthy causes in the daftest way possible. I hope others will join in the fun, either through the sponsored bike ride or by sponsoring me online."

The group hopes to raise more than £5,000 for the Shooting Star Children's Hospice and the Lebara Foundation.

It is the latest mad-cap event from the club which brought suburban skiing – skiing on a road with blocks of ice strapped to their feet – and organised a festival centred around a myth they created over a pint.

Club president Robin Hutchinson said: "This surely must be one of the most exciting cheese based charity events of the year. Voyage du fromage is perhaps the most ambitious way in which we have put the spotlight on the wonderful waste and quality of British cheese. After this we plan to build a giant buckaroo."

For more information, or to sponsor Rob, visit: www.homagedefromage.co.uk/voyage