We are using VIMOS to conduct a wide-field spectroscopic survey covering fields of $0.5 \times 0.5\,\mathrm{deg^2}$ around the X-ray luminous clusters of galaxies Abell 1689 ($z=0.185$) and Abell 1835 ($z=0.25$). Here we describe the observations and first results on the redshift distribution of subsamples of cluster galaxies to $R\simeq22$ for which we at present have obtained secure redshifts. These subsamples constitute $\sim 40\%$ of the total spectroscopic sample and contain 525 and 630 cluster members in Abell 1689 and Abell 1835, respectively, placing them amongst the largest redshift samples available for any cluster of galaxies.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html