When it comes to her fundraising efforts, no mountain is too high for Enniskillen woman Noreen Kettyles.

This Christmas she intends to take on her toughest challenge yet and reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain.

The goal she has set herself this time is to raise around £4,000 for the Northern Ireland’s Children’s Hospice.

Over the past 14 years, Noreen has been an active fundraiser for cancer based charities. Spurred on by the memory of her late father Cecil Kettyles, who passed away in 2000, she has hiked along the Great Wall of China, skydived, trekked to Everest base camp in Nepal, written a book, and accomplished a gruelling trekking marathon in the Swiss Alps - all in aid of charity.

She is now preparing for her latest feat - her climb to the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, and the most prominent in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro. Sacrificing Christmas with her children ((thanks to the support of her ex-husband, her children and wider family circle), she intends to start the challenging trek in Tanzania, Africa, on December 20, 2014. She has given herself the extra pressure of reaching the highest summit point at Uhuru Peak (19,343 feet, 5,896 metres) on Christmas Day, which is her daughter Megan Kinney’s 16th birthday. She will also miss her son Aran Kinney’s 17th birthday on December 19.

She is not only giving up Christmas and special birthday celebrations with her family, and paying for the entire expedition herself, but is also asking friends and family to donate the money they would be spending on Christmas presents for her to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. The intrepid climber cites Horizon West as a big motivating factor for her.

“The prospect of the challenge is a daunting one,” admits Noreen this week, who in spite of her recent adventures, reveals she has a crippling fear of heights. And her previous experience of altitude sickness on her trek to Everest Base Camp in 2007 is one she doesn’t relish repeating.

However she is putting her fears aside and will deal with the problems as they arise when she is doing the trek. “I do not think about it until I am at the base of where I need to go and then the fear kicks in; the adrenaline starts,” confessed Noreen, whose current efforts are focused on fundraising and attaining an excellent level of physical fitness.

With the challenge set to take place in around eight weeks time, she is being trained by personal trainer Mark McAlone, from Fitness Matters, who has designed a training schedule to ensure her peak fitness.

Noreen points out that recent research carried out by scientists at Edinburgh University showed that tackling a climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is a tough challenge due to the mountain’s high elevation. That has not put her off “in the slightest”, said Noreen.

Travelling with World Expeditions, she will take the Rongai Route approaching Kilimanjaro from the North – a quiet isolated route which retains a sense of unspoilt wilderness. It will afford her the opportunity to meet the black and white colobus monkey, and pass through several different climate zones over six days, adding considerably to the interest of the trek while at the same time ensuring maximum acclimatisation. From the summit she will experience amazing 360 degree views of the surrounding plains. And as the countdown to her mountainous feat begins, Noreen mentions that she is also undertaking the trek in memory of both her parents - June and Cecil Kettyles.

She says they “were two very special people who had a deep concern for the welfare and protection of children. I will carry the memory of my parents with me every step of the way - that’ll be more than enough to keep me moving”!

Summing up her thoughts, yesterday, Wednesday, she declared: “I am looking forward to doing something new, daring and different. I have not been on a challenge since 2009, but it’s nice to get back into the mode of doing something worthwhile again.” And it is apparent that her fundraising ventures won’t be stopping at Kilimanjaro as she also expresses the hope to do the K2 climb in Pakistan as a future initiative.

At the minute she is doing a lot of fundraising in the run up to Kilimanjaro and among her efforts are two Come Dine events and a Big Breakfast, while she has about £1,700 on her justgiving page so far. She had a target of about £3,000 but expects it could reach £4,000.

Anyone interested in sponsoring Noreen’s initiative can do so on Noreen’s justgiving web page justgiving.com/Noreen-Kettyles, or alternatively people can send a donation (cheques made payable to The Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice) to Noreen Kettyles, 23 The Commons, Bellanaleck, Co. Fermanagh BT92 2BD.