Two firefighters from the U.K. are attempting to hitchhike in full turnout gear from San Francisco to New York City in 18 days to raise money for charity.

Jayne Putland and Adrian Davis, members of the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Services, will arrive in San Francisco on July 16. From there, they will hitchhike their way toward New York City to raise money for U.K. charities, including The Fire Fighters Charity, which raises funds for injured firefighters and their families.

This isn’t the pair’s first foray into unusual fundraising. Last July, Putland and Davis participated in The Great Escape Challenge, an extreme charity hitchhike on behalf of The Fire Fighters Charity.

“The purpose of that challenge was to get as far away as possible in 36 hours without spending a single penny on transport, only using our wit, charm and persuasion skills,” Putland said. “To make the challenge even harder, we wore full firefighter kit — helmet as well!”

The two reached Warsaw, Poland, covering 914 miles and raising 1,500 pounds. They won the challenge for 2010. “We had a fantastic experience, which seemed to be quite surreal at times,” Putland said.

Inspired by their success last year and a new opportunity to meet many interesting people, Putland and Davis set the U.S. challenge for themselves. Their chosen charities this year are the Cancer Research UK — as many members of their families and friends have been affected by cancer — the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Fire Fighters Charity.

“We have made contact with the New York firefighters and will be meeting up with them when we hopefully finish our challenge,” Putland said.

Hexaware Technologies, a global provider of IT and process outsourcing services, has paid for the duo’s flights.

Anyone interested in helping Putland and Davis with either shelter or transportation across the states can contact Putland at jayne.putland@glosfire.gov.uk.