It takes two to tango, but did you know that to raise £15,000 for charity it takes six to tandem to Amsterdam?

St Albans inventor Tom Pellereau, a former winner of BBC show The Apprentice, has returned from an ambitious, and unusual, fundraising trip where the mode of travel was a six-man tandem bike.

Tom, 35, who moved to the city over a year ago, was joined by friends last Friday (26) in a bid to raise £10,000 for charity KEEN London, an initiative that provides one-to-one sports and activities for children and young adults with special needs.

The intrepid group cycled 150 miles, over 22 hours, from Buckingham Palace to the Royal Palace of Amsterdam on the specially made bike.

Speaking to the Herts Advertiser on Tuesday (30), Tom said that when he took the train to London early Friday, it was difficult to ride the bike, particularly through tunnels, at first as it was pitch-black.

The person with the most difficult job was the man at the front, who had to navigate and yell instructions to the five pedalling behind him.

However they successfully cycled through to Essex and Harwich Port, where they took a ferry to the Netherlands to continue to Amsterdam.

Speed humps – usually the curse of most drivers – turned into an ordeal for the group, particularly as there was a long stretch of road in the Netherlands where there was one every 20m.

There was also the odd close call when negotiating corners, not to mention lamp posts.

Tom explained: “One guy did have to jump off the back when faced with the option of losing a leg or jumping into a lamp post.

“The driver at the front at the time had no idea and carried on cycling 100m before anyone noticed.”

The cyclists, who returned at midnight on Sunday, raised over £15,500 for KEEN London.

Tom said that he and his friends enjoyed exercising and had for years met weekly to keep fit.

He went on: “We decided to do something to give back to the community - it’s taken about two years in the planning.

“It’s been a huge process, but it’s an amazing thing to do.”

In 2011, Tom won The Apprentice and subsequently became business partners with Lord Sugar. Since winning the show, he has successfully brought out a range of inventions.

Tom is such a keen cyclist that on his wedding day he left the church on a tandem with his bride.