MUM-of-three Maria Barnes will be scaling new heights to raise cash for charity, Mrs Barnes of Charminster will be swapping the comforts of home to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Mrs Barnes, a chef in a Dorchester care home, has been inspired to completed the arduous trek because her friend Kate Rice's daughter Alexandra has cystic fibrosis.

She said: "I am lucky I have three healthy children but the older Alexandra gets the more poorly she will become so I want to help as much as I can."

Last year Mrs Barnes joined Mrs Rice and another friend Margaret Spracklen to climb Ben Nevis and admits that her Tanzanian challenge will be a lot tougher.

"I have never done anything like this before but I am looking forward to it. I am getting plenty of training in up and down the hills on the coast. But I'm not sure how I am going to acclimatise to the temperature.

"It's going to be very hot at the bottom and cold at the top. I am doing the walk with strangers but I expect we will all be best friends by the end of it."

Mrs Barnes said her husband Dave and children Simon, Jodie and Neil were all very supportive.

"I would like to raise £2,000 and I am a planning a range of fundraising events to help me reach the target.

"We have organised a shuffleboard tournament in the Trinity Club, on June 22 starting at 7.30pm. It's a bit like shove ha'penny. People can come along on the night and take part - the more the merrier.

"And by coming along to support the event people will also be supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and all the important work it does," said Mrs Barnes.