MANY people lose touch with their childhood friends, but four classmates from Oxfordshire are proving that’s not always the case.

Ashley Jones and friends Chris Smith, Paul Bowker and Fred Robinson met as young boys at the Dragon School in Oxford.

This year, they all turn 50 and are taking part in a 54-mile challenge on Saturday to celebrate — and raise funds for charity after one of them was struck by cancer.

Mr Jones, from Berrick Salome, said: “We are a team of four old Oxford boys. We have been friends since we were children and we have stuck together through thick and thin.”

They attended different universities, moved to other counties, had children and Mr Jones was best man for two of his friends.

But they stayed as close as ever and supported Mr Jones, who runs a vehicle leasing firm, when he was diagnosed with a rare cancer, intravenous lymphoma, last year.

The father-of-two said his friends each visited regularly at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, even though they were no longer local.

He said: “The boys rallied round and supported me. To know you have that type of support is incredible. And for my wife to see people cared — it gave her strength too.

“We are a very tight-knit bunch. We probably see each other at least once a month, or once every other month. It’s funny how much we’ve stuck with each other throughout everything going on in our lives.”

The men, who grew up in Boars Hill, will take part in the Caledonian Challenge, a race of 54 miles over 24 hours in remote terrain.

Mr Jones said: “It’s been a long struggle to recover from the disease. If I can do this, I can do anything.”

He added: “I know a lot of people who say you make your best friends at university, but we made ours a long time before that.

“Fred was at my first birthday party and we were at pre-kindergarden together.”

Mr Robinson, 49, a stockbroker, from Petersfield, Hampshire, said: “We stayed friends because we made good friendships in the first place.

“The extraordinary thing about old friendships is you can pick up where you left off, regardless of the gap.”

Fuel firm boss Mr Smith, of Somerset, and wine broker Mr Bowker, of London, met the other two when they were six.