BISHOPS Frome's Susan Cooper will leave this weekend for a fundraising walk along the Great Wall of China.

Mrs Cooper, aged 59, a former stem cell transplant patient, will be joined by her friend Diana Harrison, 55, who is also from Bishops Frome.

The pair will be among a group of 50 taking part in the walk to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice in Worcester.

"I'm pretty well prepared," she Mrs Cooper. "I've been going for quite long walks twice a day most days."

The group, who each had to raise £2,500 in sponsorship by August, will fly from Heathrow on Sunday and spend ten days in China.

As well the walk, they will get the chance to see the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and indulge in a bit of sightseeing.

"There's quite a lot of steps involved and one day we have to negotiate 1,500," said Mrs Cooper. "It's quite spectacular terrain where the Great Wall is and it will be quite testing."

The group have been assured that their Air China flight will not take them over Afghanistan, as tension builds up in the region.