Book-keeper Denise Larner will be doing her best to boost the figures for this year's Shipley Stride.

The 62-year-old lymphedema sufferer is hoping to bring in as much cash as she can to help Macmillan Cancer Care Relief keep up its good work.

She will be striding out with hundreds of other walkers on Sunday, May 21, on the 5.5-mile sponsored hike from Shipley Glen and back.

Mrs Larner, of Wibsey, who had a mastectomy four years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, went on to develop nerve damage under her arm and lymphedema which caused her arm and hand to swell.

"It made life very difficult. I had a gripping pain under my arm and the swelling just made everything awkward," she said.

But she says it is all thanks to the help she has had from Macmillan nurses at the lymphedema clinic she attends at Marie Curie Hospice in Bradford that she has now overcome many of her problems.

"The nurses were extremely helpful. They supported me mentally and physically and helped me find ways of dealing with the problems I had.

"I still go to the clinic and I'm a member of a lymphedema support group that meets there," she said.

It was the Macmillan nurses who suggested she tried a special tape over her surgery scar to calm the nerve pain there and they told her about special sleeves to wear which help reduce the swelling in her arm and hand.

"I'm feeling much better now and can do almost everything I used to.

"Lifting things can still be a bit difficult but it's not going to stop me from living my life to the full," she said.

Mrs Larner will be walking the Stride with one of her best friends Judith Ayres, from Baildon, and she will be encouraging family, friends and workmates to dig deep in their pockets to sponsor her.

"The Macmillan nurses are so friendly and so helpful. I just want to do the Stride to say thank you."

Last year's Shipley Stride raised more than £20,000 and organisers are hoping for more this year.

Proceeds will be going towards specialist nurse training and Macmillan grants for cancer patients, which can pay for anything from heating bills, hospital parking fees, new clothes for patients who have lost or gained weight, or for much needed breaks.

To sign up for Shipley Stride, fill in the coupon and send it to the Bradford office of Macmillan Cancer Relief.