A BRAVE woman from Rickmansworth is preparing to walk a section of the Great Wall of China in 37C heat in aid of Breast Cancer.

Mrs Sandra Quelch, of West Way, has volunteered to take part in one of the 22 stages of the Women's Great Walk of China, which is taking place over six months, covering a total of 2,500 miles.

Over ten days, Mrs Quelch will walk approximately 120 miles, with more than 16 miles needing to be covered on some days.

She said: "Although I'm in my 50s, I do walk a lot with my dog it is an ongoing joke in my house that I walk everywhere.

"I do swimming, line dancing and aerobics classes and the William Penn Centre are letting me use their gym for free during my training, so I think I'm fairly fit.

This will be there first time an all female team has walked the entire length of the Great Wall, so everyone involved will make history as well as helping Breakthrough the charity for research into breast cancer.

"I want to make a difference because my sister-in-law died of breast cancer as did a good friend of mine," said Mrs Quelch.

"My daugher's friend did this walk and when I heard it on the radio, I phoned a friend up who does volunteer work and discovered that she was helping to organise the event, so I had to take part."

The walk will begin this month at Yumenguan in the Gobi Desert, Mrs Quelch will take over her section in July and the final walker will end at the Shanhaiguan Pass on the east coast 2,500 miles later.