Pair to abseil down five-storey hospital building

Angela Turner and Joan Woodhouse will raise money for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust charity's chemotherapy day centre

Two friends, aged 80 and 82, plan to abseil down a five-storey building to raise money for a cause close to their hearts.

Angela Turner and Joan Woodhouse will abseil down a ward block at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in aid of the hospital's chemotherapy day centre, where they volunteer.

The pair provide a listening ear for those going through chemotherapy, as well as their families, and make drinks and food for the patients.

"We're very lucky enough to have got to this age, fairly fit, if not now, when?” said Ms Turner.

Ms Woodhouse previously had treatment at the hospital, after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.

She began volunteering at the centre six and-a-half years ago.

"I wanted to give back, and now I do a morning a week as a volunteer in the Chemotherapy Day Centre," she said.

"When I’d been there for an hour with her [Ms Turner], I knew I wanted to stay there.

"So I’ve never looked back, actually."

Ms Turner felt a connection to the centre, having watched her husband, two of her sisters, and her daughter go through cancer.

'Why am I doing this?'

As for the abseil, which takes place in September, the pair said the nerves had not hit them just yet.

"We don’t actually know the height, perhaps we don’t want to know," Ms Turner said.

"We’re not nervous at the moment," said Ms Woodhouse.

"I think the moment for being nervous will be when I lift off the top of the building, and I think: 'Why am I doing this?'"

The women have raised more than £4,500 so far.