Five friends from the East End have shown their togetherness by completing a 250 mile bike ride as a team to raise money for charity.

The five lads, all from Tower Hamlets, decided to cycle the hills of Andalucia, in southern Spain, to raise money for Islamic Relief.

Azizur Rahman, 20, and Zakaria Choudhury, 18, both from Bow joined Muhit Chowdhury, 18, from Poplar and Tahian Ahmed, 19, from the Isle Dogs for the charity bike ride which they returned from on Friday, October 7.

A fifth friend also took part in the cycling challenge to raise money for Islamic Relief’s water projects.

Azizur Rahman said it was quite a challenging experience – especially for someone who does little exercise.

“I’m not a cyclist, I do very little exercise, so cycling 250 miles is way out of my comfort zone,” said Azizur.

“We all had to push ourselves to complete the eight hours a day in the saddle, I kept trying to remember how crucial Islamic Relief water projects are, especially when I was thirsty.

“I really hope I’ve inspired my friends and family by doing this.”

The friends managed to raise more than £8,000 for Islamic Relief – three grand of which was donated by a restaurant in Leyton.

The restaurant, called Five Lads, sponsored the friends because they were a group of five lads and donated £3,000 towards their goal and cooked the group a slap up meal last Friday.

Islamic Relief’s national community fundraising and volunteering manager, Zia Salik, thanked the restaurant for their generous donation.

“This was an amazing experience for everyone who took part and it also raised vital funds for Islamic Relief’s water projects which will help many around the world.

We are so grateful to the Five Lads restaurant for the £3000 donation, it’s such a good way for business to give back, and we are proud that the Lads completed this difficult challenge.”

To learn more about Islamic relief go to youtube.com/user/IslamicRelief.