Former nurse Sue Gilby will have the support of Winsley village when she walks across a section of the Great Wall of China to raise money for the hospital she once worked in.

Mrs Gilby, 56, of Bradford Road, Winsley, will be joined by 15 team members during her six-day trek in September to raise funds for the new Cancer Centre at Royal United Hospital in Bath.

She said: “My husband was a consultant on the unit and I was a nurse at the hospital for five years.

“The work the hospital does is great but the north side of the RUH is old and outdated and it will be nice to contribute to the new Cancer Centre.”

Mrs Gilby will be joined by friends Biddy Walcot, Trish Simmons and her daughter, Alex, who all live in Bath.

Each team member has to raise a minimum of £3,200, with 80 per cent of the sponsorship due before July, but the mother-of-two has already exceeded that target, raising £4,500.

She said: “I letter-dropped the parish, saying what I was doing, and people donated well over £1,000.

“The local pub – The Seven Stars – and Hartley Farm have put on quizzes and I had a clothes sale which raised £1,500. It is so lovely to have the whole village behind us.”

Mrs Gilby, who went on to work as a practice nurse at Box Surgery for 10n years before setting up Still Meadows Bed and Breakfast in Winsley 17 years ago, has been walking up to four times a week in preparation for the trek.

The team will be walking three to eight hours per day and she added: “It will be a challenge. There will be a lot of steps and the ground is uneven.

“It will be quite cold in the mornings and evenings, but warm during the day.

“I will be staying in locals’ homes and basic accommodation. I am slightly worried about the food but hope to eat a lot of rice and vegetables.”