AN adventurer will scale the world's highest active volcano to raise money for a North-East charity.

Rachel Smith, 34, is taking on her second climb for children's autism charity Daisy Chain after catching the adrenaline bug.

Mrs Smith, of Middleton St George, near Darlington, has signed up to climb Cotopaxi, in Ecuador, after successfully reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

She battled high altitude, ferocious weather conditions and difficult terrain to reach the 19,000ft summit last year and is now preparing to push her mind and body to further extremes.

The fundraising group will climb the 19,347ft mountain in September next year over a 14-day period using crampons, ice axes and ropes.

Mrs Smith and her husband, Steve, have raised more than £13,000 for the charity in the past two years.

She said: "I attended Daisy Chain's annual ball a couple of years ago. After watching a film about the amazing work they do and the impact it has on families in the region, my husband and I began supporting the charity in any way we could.

"As soon as I heard about the fundraising trek of Kilimanjaro, which was something I had always wanted to do, the decision to sign up was very easy.

"Reaching the summit was the best experience of my life and I caught the bug of climbing - I would recommend it to anyone."