People

Nick Harding's decided to do something different after being given time off by his employers.

He's decided to explore Britain by bus. But this isn't a case of buying a ticket for a National Express. He's going to use service buses. As Nick says "the kind you catch in the street."

The journey

Setting off from Mansfield he'll traverse the country in a figure of eight shape, going from Notts to Land's End, back to Mansfield via a different route, then on to John O'Groats before the journey home, again by a different route.

"I enjoy travelling by bus and I thought I'd go on a long bus journey.

"I've got a few tight connections where I've got four minutes to change buses. There are a couple of places where it's the only bus of the day to catch which is a bit risky but I believe in buses."

Just as well. Over a period of 17 days he'll spend 140 hours on board making 101 different bus journeys.

Getting away from it

Nick's day to day job is Children's Ministry Adviser for the Church of England in Southwell and Nottingham Diocese. While part of the trip is to have time to himself he's also raising money for charity.

The beneficiaries will be CLIC Sargent (working with children who have cancer and their families), and Pedra Viva (supporting education and helping street children in Brazil).

Follow his journey

Nick set off on Monday 7 January 2008. Listen to the latest from Nick as he travels across Britain.