A Wickham Bishops woman is planning a five day trek in Peru, in order to raise money to help build a specialist unit for teenagers with cancer.

Victoria Leigh, 26, together with a small group of other people from the Teenage Cancer Trust, will be following the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, rising to altitudes of up to 14,000 ft, in September.

She has committed herself to raise a minimum of £2,500 to help build and equip these vital units, which are designed to provide an environment that encourages teenagers to lead as normal a life as possible.

Victoria said: "When my dad had cancer, there were lots of children and teenagers on the same ward as him, and I just thought it was depressing enough to have this awful disease, without not being able to do normal teenage stuff."

She is now spending a lot of her time in training, which will be very hard and will require a good level of fitness.

"Too many of us have seen cancer in our own families and it is particularly terrible when it is being suffered by a child or teenager," she said.

"Cancer kills more teenagers than anything else, apart from accidents, which is why I am hoping to raise at least £2,500 for this worthy cause."

If you would like to sponsor Victoria and make a donation to the charity, please call her on 0802 747616.

Pictured right, Victoria Leigh.

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