SHE gives medical care to babies in Hampshire every day and is now preparing to raise funds for children much further from home.

Alyson O'Donnell, 40, is a consultant neonatologist at Southampton's Princess Anne Hospital. In May next year she will walk the ancient Inca trail in Peru in aid of charity Action Aid.

Alyson hopes to raise thousands of pounds and the money will help children living in poverty in remote parts of Peru.

She will be joined on the ten-day adventure by friend Lisa Ivory, a 34-year-old personal fitness consultant from Hythe who works at the Club Halcyon gym in Portswood.

They must both raise a minimum of £3,000 in sponsorship before they set off next year.

The pair will trek with 50 other fundraisers and walk for eight hours a day over five days.

Their journey will take them from the city of Cusco to the ancient city of Machu Picchu. They will travel across high desert plateaus and tropical Andean rainforests.

They are planning to hold a series of fundraising events including an aerobathon in the new year.

Alyson said: "Walking the Inca trail is something I have always wanted to do and when Lisa showed me the advert for this trip we just persuaded each other to do it.

"It is a very arduous walk and starts off at a height of 11,500ft, so altitude sickness might be a problem.

"But it's all for a wonderful cause and we are hoping to see some of the work Action Aid do out there."

To sponsor Alyson and Lisa and to find out more about their fundraising events, visit www.justgiving.com/alyandlisa

THE INCA TRAIL:

The trail is in the Andes, one of Peru's many mountain ranges.

At 42km long, it takes an average of three to four days to complete, and consists of a number of peaks, the highest of which is Dead Woman's Pass, standing at 13,750 feet.

Beginning in Cusco near the village of Huayllabamba, it leads through the mountains above the Urabamba river following the course of the old Inca railway and ends in Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.

The history of the trail dates back to the fifteenth century when the Incas controlled a huge empire and constructed a paved road system and massive stone buildings.