AN intrepid 37-year-old leaves for one of the world's most inhospitable places today -- and he's doing it for his favourite charity.

Mark Whittaker, of Jackson Street, Clayton-le-Moors, said before he left he was nervous about the prospect of coping with eight-hour days in temperatures up to 40 degrees centigrade in the Amazon, South America.

Even getting to the start of the trek will be an ordeal in itself, with a plane journey from Heathrow to Quito in Ecuador, another two flights to the border with Peru and a motor boat journey along the Amazon.

The production manager at Fabex Plastics, Gorse Street, Blackburn, will spend 10 days canoeing and trekking in the Amazon rain forest in South America to raise money for the National Deaf Children's Society.

Mark paid for the £1,200 trip himself, but had to raise another £2,000 in sponsorship money to seal his place on the trek.

And with just two days to go, the father-of-two has made his target, with £1,950 in donations from friends and colleagues, including a £300 donation from his own pocket and another £300 in pledges.

Before he left he said: "I know it is going to be hard but it is worth it because it is such a good cause. Deafness is so misunderstood and this gives me the chance to make more people aware of the problem."