CREWS from Dauntseys School and Marlborough College will be on the start line for the 67th running of the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race on Easter weekend.

Sixth formers Merlin Lindsay and George Holland will represent Marlborough College in the 125 mile long race that for junior doubles crews starts at Devizes Wharf on Good Friday and finishes at Westminster Bridge four days later.

Merlin, 17, from Clench, near Pewsey, will be raising money for a conservation charity Tusk Trust that was set up with the help of his uncle James Lindsay who was a founding director back in the 1990s.

He has already beaten his fundraising target of £3,000 and is now aiming for £4,000. He will be joined in the boat by his friend whose family home is in Kent. They have been training three times a week since September.

Merlin said: "When I heard that last year over 35,000 African elephants were unlawfully killed I felt I wanted to do something."

Nine crews from the lower sixth at Dauntsey's School, West Lavington, will be raising money for the charity CALM which works to stop young people committing suicide. Last year the teams raised more than £22,000 to help a girls' school in Uganda.

The canoe race is so popular among students at Dauntsey's that would-be racers were selected after time trials run by Sam Moore the school's director of adventure education. The school has been competing in the race for more than 40 years.

This year's canoe race is expected to have more than 600 kayakers in 334 boats taking part in the challenge. In total there are five classes of competition with some competitors having over-night stops and others canoeing straight through. The race include 77 portages where crews have to carry their boats.

A race spokesman said: "The race is a severe test of skill, physical and mental stamina and planning which produces a memorable sense of achievement for those successfully completing it."

To sponsor Merlin visit www.justgiving.com/merlinlindsay