MAX Smith has a special insight into the work of cancer nurses because his mum is one.

That’s why he is putting his head down and pedalling hard on a gruelling 70-mile cycle ride next month to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The 11-year-old, who starts at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy the day before his challenge, has already beaten his own fundraising target of £500 and is well on his way to £700 in sponsorship.

“His dad does a lot of cycling and he has really got interested in it over the last couple of years,” said mum Rachel, a Macmillan nurse at the Great Western Hospital.

She said the youngster had got the idea because earlier this year dad Lee had done a 200-mile sponsored cycle ride across Scotland and she and Max had acted as support.

“Max decided he wanted to do his own challenge,” said Rachel.

“He is such a determined boy that he will just get out and do it. He is amazing like that.”

Last Sunday the family tackled a 54-mile run and even though he had to endure wind and rain he put his head down and pushed into it.

“I think a lot of it is driven by the fact that I’m one of the Macmillan nurses at the hospital. He knows what I do and he knows how cancer affects people,” said Rachel.

In 2011 she ran a marathon in aid of the charity and Lee had completed a London to Paris cycle ride for it. Big sister Jamie, 14, has also baked cakes for Macmillan.

“I’m very honest with him,” she said. “I look after people with lung cancer and he does get a really honest idea how this disease affects people.”

Although she is at pains not to bring her work home with her too much “he knows when I’ve had a tough day at work, he knows what those extra special cuddles are about.”

Max, who has been spending part of his summer holiday taking part in the summer youth project at the Wyvern Theatre, sets out on his cycle marathon on Saturday, September 3, the day after starting school.

He is riding from his home in Hilmarton near Lyneham to a family friend’s house in Totton, just outside Southampton.

Lee will be cycling with Max, navigating for him and together they will tackle a tough route that will see them gain 2,500 feet in elevation.

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Maxsmifff to sponsor Max.