A Reigate teacher will cycle a mammoth 1,000 miles to Geneva in aid of the hospital that treated his friend after he suffered serious head and facial injuries during a school ski trip.

Duncan Edwards, 34, a teacher at Reigate Priory Junior School and Gavin Rees, 29, who also taught at the school until the accident two years ago, are now in training for the bike ride.

The friends were among a party of teachers on a school ski trip to Alpe D'Huez in France in February 2003 when they collided with each other on the way down the slope.

Fortunately Duncan's injuries were not too severe, although he suffered cracked ribs and cuts to his head and leg.

However, the accident left Gavin with such extensive head and facial injuries that he had to undergo a 19-hour operation and now has 130 screws and 21 plates in his face and body.

Duncan said: "I feel incredibly lucky after the accident. Gavin has been through a really tough time and I am just glad I have been able to help him through it."

Gavin, who taught at the Bell Street school for two years before moving to Wales, said: "It has taken a long time to start feeling like my old self but the doctors told me that it would be seven to 10 years before I was fully recovered. They said I would never teach again but I started again last September."

The pair are due to embark on their trip in August and hope to complete the 1,000 miles in 14 days, covering an average of between 67 and 92 miles a day. They will set off from Gavin's home town of Milford Haven in west Wales and will stop at Reigate before cycling to Alpe D'Huez via Geneva Duncan, who has been teaching in Reigate for seven years, is excited about the trip, although a little nervous at the thought of the long days and gruelling mountain climbs on the bike.

He said: "It is going to be hard when we wake up in the morning and our legs are aching and we'll have to get back on the bike."

However, Gavin added: "It was determination that helped me recover and this is a celebration of that fact. To cycle 1,000 miles is going to be very difficult but I have faced a lot worse."

The cycle trip will raise funds for Morriston Hospital's maxillofacial unit in south Wales, where Gavin was treated.

Reigate Priory School is supporting the bike ride.

Donations can be made by visiting Duncan and Gavin's website at www.cyclegeneva.co.uk.