STUDENT Oliver Dawe-Lane will be rubbing shoulders with royalty when he joins a team attempting to row non-stop around Great Britain to raise money for an ocean conservation charity.

Oliver, 21, who grew up in Rowde and is a former pupil of The Mill School, Potterne will be joined by three team mates including Arthur Chatto whose grandmother was Princess Margaret and whose great aunt is The Queen.

Oliver, who was a sports scholar at Millfield School in Somerset, will also be joined by Frasier Cutt, 21 and Charles Bromhead, 21.

All four are studying at Exeter University and are united by their desire to raise cash for the charity Just One Ocean by completing the marathon row in June.

Oliver, who is skipper of the team, is a keen sportsman who played cricket for Potterne and rugby for Devizes.

He said: “Just One Ocean is set on tackling the grave issue of ocean pollution and we are hoping to raise as much money and awareness as possible.”

A justgiving page has been set up with a target of £150,000. So far £950 has been raised.

The lads have called themselves team Exe Endurow to show their Exeter University links and the endurance level of their challenge.

The team said: “Weʼre raising £150,000 to support Just One Ocean, helping to secure a sustainable future for Britain’s waters.

“We come from different schools, different hometowns, different sports, different degrees but a shared goal. We are a group of final year students from the University of Exeter.

“We have a diverse set of interests; ranging from mountaineering, trail running and rugby. We don’t underestimate the challenge, we think it’s going to be very tough, but we like the idea of entering as a team and knowing we will have as hard a time as one another.”

“This charity undertakess projects, and develop solutions working alongside local communities.”

To support them go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/exe-endurow or to find out more or go to facebook.com/exeendurow/