A gutsy grandma has raised tens of thousands for a hospice charity — even if it means walking on fire and skydiving.

Fundraising and volunteering on behalf of ellenor hospice has been a vital part of Rosalind Driver’s life for the past 40 years.

And while at age 74 she could be forgiven for wanting to slow down, she says she’ll be doing anything but.

Over the last 15 years, Rosalind, known as Ros by her friends at ellenor, has raised thousands for the hospice in Northfleet after making a pledge to raise £20,000 in her lifetime.

Among her latest achievements was a fire walk held at Dartford Football Club.

Reflecting on the experience, she said: “It wasn’t terrifying – just mind over matter really. I do really like challenges. When I went to the Himalayas with ellenor for a fundraising walk my son was horrified when he dropped me off at the airport.

“He saw everyone else going on the trek looked like professional walkers whereas all I used to do was walk every Sunday morning to Higham and back!

“They ended up getting a special Sherpa just for me. The main reason I went along was to meet the Dalai Lama, but he wasn’t there. Everyone joked that he must have known I was coming!”

As well as the Himalayan trek, when she raised £11,000, Ros has abseiled in aid of ellenor and braved a sky dive – an experience she has sworn never to repeat.

The thrill-seeking pensioner also took part in the charity’s “Chilli Dip”, plunging into an outdoor pool in February.

When Ros isn’t throwing herself out of a plane, she’s selling lamps handmade from old gin bottles and shaking a bucket at various venues when she joins a musician friend at gigs.

Ros, a practising Christian, was introduced to the hospice ethos in the early 1980s when her mum took her along to a Womens Institutes meeting.

She said: “The speaker that day was Cecily Saunders, founder of the hospice movement. I was enthralled to listen to her, and I knew I would help in any way I could.”

After volunteering for another Kent hospice, Ros heard that The Lions were building one nearby at Northfleet – now the ellenor hospice.

She said: “My two eldest children, who were seven and nine at the time, sold their old toys to buy bricks to help build it.

“Of course, they are grown up and in their 40s now and although they don’t volunteer at ellenor like I do, they are always here to help me with my fundraising.”

Ros, who lives in Gravesend, has three children, Ben, Jo and Hattie, and six grandchildren – and a seventh on the way.

She worked in the funeral directing business until she retired, spending her spare time fundraising and volunteering.

“The majority of my life I’ve worked with death. I just want to put as much into my life as I possibly can,” she added.

Her remarkable fundraising activities saw her feature on Sunday’s (April 6) episode of BBC show, Songs of Praise which shared her remarkable life story and talked about her dedication to her faith.

You can watch the show back here.

Meanwhile, ellenor fundraisers have calculated that Ros has raised £12,000 since 2008, but it is uncertain how much she raised before that, when it was The Lions hospice.

Ros added: “I may well have raised £20,000 already, but the main point is that I just intend to carry on and raise as much as I can in my lifetime.”

On why she treasures her relationship with ellenor so deeply, she added: “I’m sure a lot of people don’t realise how much ellenor does, helping people in the home for instance.

“If you want to die in your own home, they will come and look after you there. It seems there’s nothing they can’t do.

“I have always enjoyed volunteering with ellenor, raising funds for them, and being part of something that is so important and gives so much to the community. I would recommend it to anyone.”