A MUM of four will take on the highest mountain in Africa this weekend as she climbs Mount Kilimanjaro for charity.
Jacqui Smith, a teaching assistant from Thornton Heath, takes on a charity challenge every two years to "give back" after all the help she received when her disabled son Jake, now 24, was a child.
Jacqui, 52, has raised over £4,000 for Marie Curie, who she flies to Tanzania with today along with 26 other volunteers.
She said: "Marie Curie is a good cause. I ran the London Marathon for Whizz-Kidz two years ago and raise money for a different charity each time.
"Now my children are older and I have more time I want to put something back into the community because of all the help Jake received from charities and organisations."
Jacqui, who lives with partner Clive Davies and children 18-year-old Amber and 13-year-old Paige, and has a 21-year-old daughter Jordan, has been training for the climb for a year. It will take the group four and a half days to scale the mountain, and a day and a half to come back down.
"It's hard to do proper altitude training here but I have kept running since the marathon and been for long distance walks to make sure my fitness levels are high so I can deal with all the walking," she said.
And the climbing won't be the only test for Jacqui, who doesn't like flying.
"It's so far away but it's about facing my fears," she said. "It's a challenge in itself to get on a plane and go all that distance."
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