Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest; Wanda Rutkiewicz was the first woman to successfully climb summit K2 and Lhakpa Sherpa has climbed Everest more than any other woman in the world, but none of these women have accomplished what us three ladies are aiming to achieve next month.

On 5th October, we are flying to Sicily, and rather than turning left out the airport and heading straight to the beaches, we will be turning right to climb to the summit of Mount Etna, the most active volcano in the world at 10,922ft in just under 3 days. This will entail crossing rocky trails, climbing steep slopes over sharp volcanic stones, through snow and bleak lava wilderness.

You may ask why. The reason is we are raising money for MS POSITIVE - a charity which provides one-to-one support to those suffering with MS. The charity will place families at its heart, focusing on the individual, not the illness. It aims to provide practical support such as healthy living advice and bespoke exercise regimes, to emotional help, via support groups, a hotline, childcare and a forum for their families. By providing all of this, it will make it easier for people living with MS to have a much more positive outlook on life.

We have all trained very hard for this, walking our dogs around the park, weekly coffees in Kenwood, wearing lycra whilst we do the shopping, wearing in our mountain boots around the house and asking the organisers the most important questions – will there be Wifi and what are the toilet facilities like?

Now of course our biggest worry is if Etna erupts (it has already five times this year) but don't worry, like every good mother, we have typed into Google to seek advice.

It suggests one should:

"Stay indoors with your pets as much as possible. Wear masks and goggles if you go outside to keep volcanic ash out of your eyes and lungs. Keep gutters and roofs clear of heavy deposits of ash, which can collapse the roof.” Yeah!!

All we are thinking is what a great Selfie it would make of us running down a mountain whilst being pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam!

We know you get lots of charity requests, so whatever you can give us would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

Tanya, Tina and Nancy xx