Desert fundraiser

A dispensing optician has decided to mark 10 years of being cancer-free with a fundraising trek across the Jordan desert.

Tina Swift, who worked at Wooding Opticians in Bispham, has decided to use the trek to raise funds for the charity that supported her during her illness, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust.

Swift went into remission from her cervical cancer in 2011 following a hysterectomy. She planned to mark the anniversary with the five-day trek across the scorching desert. TV stars Amber Gill and Scarlett Moffatt were also expected to join the expedition.

She said: 'When I first saw what was involved I thought: "There’s no way I could do anything like that', I’m too scared to even go on the rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. But because it’s been ten years, I thought I should really mark that and get out of my comfort zone.