A NARBERTH woman is preparing to embark on a nine day trek across part of the Great Wall of China in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Twenty-nine-year-old Aimee Beere, a former student of Greenhill School in Tenby, Pembrokeshire College, and the University of Glamorgan, who works as a personal banking adviser for Santander UK PLC, will take on the challenge between September 24 and October 2 this year.

"I have been with the company for almost two years and every year they choose a different charity to support and raise money for throughout the year, and this year, Santander have chosen to support Marie Curie, and the Great Wall of China Trek was open to all its UK employees to make a written application to win a place on the nine-day trek, along with 36 other employees from across the UK," explained Aimee, who has to raise £2,000 with Santander then matching whatever sponsor money is raised, totalling at £4,000, which is the minimum sponsorship funds.

"The trek involves walking for up to nine hours per day, with most of the trekking actually on the wall itself, so we will mostly be ascending or descending flights of uneven, irregular steps, also including some scrambling sections!

"We have to include a training programme which started five months before the trek, involving doing 60 minutes of exercise a day, covering steep terrain, which will be a challenge to any vertigo sufferers due to the exposed sections we will face.

"The trek will also involve camping on local farmers land along the way, which will provide us with a look into the real lives of farmers in rural China," continued Aimee.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Aimee can view her sponsor page at http://www.justgiving.com/AimeeBeere">www.justgiving.com/AimeeBeere or alternatively you can call in to the Santander Bridge Street Branch at Haverfordwest where she works, if you prefer to give a cash donation.