Trip of a lifetime ... again!

They have already been to the Great Wall of China but now Rod Bailey and Mark Reeves of Cancer Research are planning a high-altitude trek in Peru.

On May 15 they will fly to Lima, travel on to Cusco and from there begin to walk to Macchu Pichu, lost city of the incas.

Their trek will be hugely challenging because of lack of oxygen - they will be travelling on foot at 4,500 metres (16,000 ft) and the air will be thin.

Rod said; "We are excited and looking forward to going but it is very worrying. It can affect people in all sorts of ways and you just don't know how you will be until you get there and you are on those hills.

"People can suffer acute mountain sickness at 2,500 metres, and we will be much higher than that. I am told it makes you feel nauseous, headachey, exhausted; it can result in serious lung or pulmonary problems. Little oxygen travels to the muscles so we will be moving with difficulty and very slowly - around six and a half miles per day."

"There is some trepidation about how we will cope, and also about going to Cusco which is a place known for crime particularly against foreign tourists. You have to be careful there.

But it's going to be amazing, the views are extraordinary. When all things are said and done, the views will make the trip and I know we are aiming at coming down to Macchu Pichu just before dawn so we should see it at sunrise, which will be stunning."

They already have achieved 7,350 in sponsorship which Rod is pleased with, but still aiming for more; "It's all about raising money for cancer research, that's the whole thing - about fighting this terrible disease. We need sponsors to help with sleeping bags and equipment and so far that side has been disappointing."

They will need to take their own supplies for the trek; "We will be camping at night, so we must take everything ourselves. We will have to get our water from the streams, so we will need purification tablets. Once on the trail, that's it, you have to keep going. There are no shops along the way, although there might be a little hotel or two where you can use the loo - otherwise its digging a hole and getting back to nature."

Rod has worked in the Western Road charity shop for 15 years and was responsible for the Cancer Research launch in Bexhill; "Those were early days. There was nothing here, no furniture at all. I contacted a local hotel to ask if they had an old table we could use for sorting our stock."

Fundraising outside the shop has become a major part of his life; "I talk about it all the time because you never know who you might meet and where it could lead. It's so important, that's why we do these events.

"Originally it was Mark's idea. He went off to a presentation in London and came back fired with ideas. He suggested we go to the Great Wall Of China, and stupidly I agreed." Apart from far-flung adventure, they organise events closer to home; they recently walked around Bewl Water to raise 1,400 and hosted a dinner at the Brickwall Hotel in Sedlescombe.