A PLUCKY Kendal mum is to skydive from 13,000 feet this weekend to say thank you for her twin sister's cancer treatment.

Jo Pritchard, 47, is using her debut tandem parachute jump as a show of gratitude to staff at Preston's Rosemere Cancer Centre. Her sibling Tracey Probyn, a nurse, is being treated there for bowel cancer.

Legal secretary Jo, who lives at Valley Drive, said: "I was watching the celebrities on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! parachute into the jungle and mentioned to my husband Mark that I quite fancied doing a parachute jump.

"Unbeknown to me, he booked me one as a joint Christmas and birthday present as my birthday is on New Year’s Eve. "

Jo explained: "Following my sister’s diagnosis, and cancer having affected a number of other family members and friends, I decided to use the jump to raise funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

"I’m okay with heights but I’m less good at standing on the edge of a drop so I’m now getting a bit worried about how things will go.”

Jo's twin sister, Tracey, is a nurse and works at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital in Chorley.

Jo's parachute jump is to take place early this Saturday morning at Cark Airfield, Flookburgh.

So far she has raised £595 through her Just Giving page.

Any donations would be gratefully received at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jo-pritchard4

"Originally I thought I might raise about £100 so to have passed the £500 mark is brilliant and I am very grateful to everyone who has sponsored me," said Jo, who is mum to Beth, 21, and Owen, 19.

Rosemere Cancer Centre is the specialist cancer treatment centre at the Royal Preston Hospital, Preston.

The Rosemere Cancer Foundation raises money to bring world-class cancer treatments and services to patients from south Cumbria and Lancashire who are being treated there, as well as at cancer units at locations such as Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The charity pays for cutting-edge equipment, research, training and other cancer services and therapies that are beyond NHS resources.

To find out more about its work, visit www.rosemere.org.uk