A music teacher and a pub landlord are preparing to walk from the West coast of Ireland to their home town of Keighley to raise money for a cancer charity.

Damian Curran and James Mitchell will fly to Ireland on Wednesday, before taking the long road back – a daunting 200-mile walk from Galway to Keighley. In doing so, they will repeat a similar feat from last year, when they walked from Aire to Ayr – Keighley to Scotland.

Last year’s walk raised almost £3,000 for St Martin’s Hospice and Help For Heroes and this year the pair hope to raise up to £2,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

They hope to take the more rural routes on their journey, camping along the way. But this means they have to carry their gear for the whole cross country walk, each carrying a 3kg backpack. Their only break from the elements will be when they get the ferry over to England.

The pair, who were last year joined by friend Phil Coffey, made it to Ayr in eight days. This year they expect the journey to take between eight and ten days.

Mr Curran, 27, a guitar tutor and electrician, said: “We are undertaking a very physically demanding task, but it is nothing in comparison to the plight cancer patients go through every single day of their lives. If we can raise awareness of their battle and also raise some money to help fund Yorkshire Cancer Research in its fight against it, then I feel I have achieved something.

“When we decided to do it last year we fancied a challenge and thought if we did it for charity it would make us stick with it. It was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.”

Mr Mitchell, 26, who manages the Cricketer’s Arms pub, said: “Last year I talked about walking to Scotland and was laughed at by people, so I proved them wrong. Now I want another challenge.”

To donate, visit virginmoneygiving.com/team/CricksDuo. There are also collection buckets in the Cricketer’s Arms.