It takes courage and commitment to go trekking in the jungle of South America especially if you are afraid of spiders.

But that is just what the Rev Margery Grange, of St Peter & St Paul Church in Pickering, plans to do to raise funds for the Children's Society.

Next year she sets off for Mount Roraima, a 280 square metre plateau, overlooking the savannah and straddling the borders of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil.

Margery said: "It is the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Lost World', but I'm assured there are no dinosaurs at the top."

She confessed: "I am nervous about the possibility of encountering free-roaming snakes, or being eaten by piranha fish.

"I am also frightened of spiders, even in my bathroom at home!"

Margery has to raise £2,500 by next March.

Also arranged are a 1960s and 1970s dance night at Pickering Recreation Club, on Friday, November 17, and a quiz night in December, plus a stall at the Dickensian Market in Pickering and a couple of coffee mornings.

She added a plea: "Please can you help. If anyone can offer a venue, fund-raising ideas, even a ready-made event, I would be most grateful." Margery hopes the bulk of the money will be raised by providing opportunities for fun and fellowship within the community. For more information telephone 01752 475657, or e-mail her on margerygrange@care4free.net