THE heat will be on for a 61-year-old Wyre Forest grandmother when she sets out on a 120km trek through the African desert next week in aid of charity.

Angela Lawson, of Bayton, will be battling intense heat, extreme terrain and exhaustion in the most remote part of the continent to raise cash for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) and the Royal United Kingdom Beneficent Association (RUKBA). Angela Lawson who sets out for the Namibian desert on Saturday.

Mrs Lawson, who works as a volunteer for Rukba in the Kidderminster and Droitwich area, said: "I've never done anything like this before in my life. I've never even slept in a sleeping bag before. It all seemed a long way away when I signed up for this in April."

The five-day trek will cover between 100 and 120km through the Namib Desert, Namibia, the oldest desert in the world. It is in the largest and most remote part of Africa.

Temperatures during the Namib Desert Challenge will reach 40 degrees centigrade and all the 61 trekkers will have to camp out overnight without the use of showers or toilets.

Mrs Lawson, who will be among the oldest walkers taking part, said: "As a volunteer I was sent out information about the challenge to see if I knew anyone who wanted to take part and I decided to have a go myself. I have been out to South Africa before with my husband two years ago but that was very much a holiday. This will be very different"

The housewife and mother and grandmother-of-four said she had learnt of Rukba's work through a friend and had decided providing support, company and friendship for elderly people on low incomes whom the charity helped to stay in their own homes would suit her.

Mrs Lawson, who is married to a retired major in the Lifeguards, added the fact that the challenge would raise funds for SSAFA was "an added incentive."

She said the main challenge had been to get fit as walking around 18 miles a day in soaring temperatures would be far more demanding than walking the same distance in Britain. To this end she had been doing "a lot of walking" in the Wyre Forest, she added.

Mrs Lawson, who sets out for Africa on Saturday, said she had attended a briefing in London by the organisers on what she could expect during the expedition.

"It will be very hot and I will not be able to wash but I'm looking forward to it, if a little apprehensive," she said.

Anyone wanting to sponsor Mrs Lawson should contact Michele Marriott at Rukba on 0207 605 4288.