An intrepid trekker has set her sights on walking the Great Wall of China to raise money for the hospital which helped her as a child.

Mamta Sidhu, of Spring Road, Kempston, was a patient at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and now wants to raise at least £2,000 to repay the doctors and nurses who treated her.

The 23-year-old will walk nine hours a day for ten days, covering as much of the 50,000km wall as she can with a group of like-minded hikers, all raising money for the hospital's charity.

She said: "I wanted to give something back because the hospital did a lot for me as a patient and also my family. Everybody was very supportive and the staff are exceptional.

"We plan to walk for about 90 hours over the course of the ten days and I want to raise a minimum of £2,000, but anything above that will be fantastic.

"I've started preparing by doing a lot of walking around Kempston and have been dragging friends and family along with me."

Miss Sidhu is now working hard on training for her grand expedition, which starts on October 4.

To kickstart her fundraising efforts, the former Daubeney Middle and Hastingsbury Upper School pupil is holding a charity dinner at the Saffron Indian Restaurant in Tavistock Street, Bedford, on Sunday, August 3, starting at 6.30pm.

Tickets for the event cost £10 for adults or £5 for children, with all proceeds going to the charity. Up to 200 guests will be able to take advantage of a henna tattoo artist, a buffet meal and enter a charity raffle.

Anyone wishing to buy a ticket, or sponsor Miss Sidhu should visit www.justgiving.com/mamtasidhu