CHARITY founder Bruce MacLeod yesterday set off on a world-record-setting expedition from Scotland to South Africa using electric bikes.

E-Bike Africa is the first action of new group The Purple Heart Network, which works for environmental and social justice.

The 20,000 kilometre journey began in George Square, Glasgow, yesterday morning and will end in Cape Town, taking in the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on the way and passing through Switzerland, Sudan, Kenya and Malawi, among other countries.

Setting off yesterday, MacLeod said: “We will visit environments and people experiencing immediate impacts of climate change. Mount Kilimanjaro, the Victoria Falls and the only penguin colony in Africa are iconic examples.”

Photographer Susanne Brusch, of project sponsor Pedelec Adventures, will join MacLeod on parts of the journey.

She called it a “once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Africa from inside while putting today’s e-bike technology to the longest test ever.”