A HITCHIKING race across Europe has raised £30,000 so an Oxford charity can plant 120,000 trees.

More than 320 teams of two or three took part in this year's Barcelona Express, racing to reach the Spanish city from Brussels, Paris or Amsterdam.

Setting off on the sponsored sprint on July 4, the tree-mendous teams had just six days to reach the Barcelona.

Almost all of them succeeded and now they have handed their funds over to the International Tree Foundation (ITF) on Banbury Road.

The charity will use the cash to plant more than 120,000 trees in rural Kenya.

But more than that, those are just a part of the ITF's '20 Million Trees for Kenya's Forests' campaign to celebrate the charity's 100th anniversary in 2024.

As the name suggests, the campaign aims to plant 20 million trees in and around Kenya’s highland forests in time for the centenary.

The foundation is hoping to reach its goal through local, community-based tree planting initiatives – even roping in schoolchildren.

Programmes manager Paul Laird said: "Deforestation results in the drying up of Kenya’s rivers and in problems such as flash floods, soil erosion, crop failures and loss of biodiversity.

"Restoring Kenya’s forests will improve life for local and downstream communities who depend on the forests, and make a contribution to tackling climate change.

"Crucially it is local community organisations who take the lead in planting trees in the forests and on their farms."

The 120,000 trees funded by the Barcelona Express will be planted in Karuri, an area on the northern side of Mount Kenya where deforestation has been dramatic.

The charity's partner organisation, Mount Kenya Trust, is working with communities there to restore the forest while increasing farming incomes.

The International Tree Foundation was founded in 1924 as the 'Men of the Trees' by English forester, environmental activist and author Dr Richard St Barbe Baker.

Today it aims to conserve forests, trees, associated biodiversity and indigenous forestry knowledge in the UK and internationally.

The Barcelona Express, organised by childhood friends Simon Vandeweghe and Charles Van Den Bossche, also has environmental ambitions.

This year's race aimed to highlight how hitch-hiking and car-sharing make it possible to travel in 'responsible ways' which limit carbon emissions.

In total, this year's teams travelled nearly half a million kilometres without buying a single litre of fuel.

The philanthropic founders said they hoped this year's link-up with the ITF could be the beginning of a perennial partnership.

Mr Van Den Bossche said: "Our life goal is to travel as much as possible, have a lot of fun along the road and make the world a slightly better place in the meantime."