Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Why am I Skydiving?

Jackie, my wife died in February 2015. She had cancer for a number of years and during the last two years of her life we both visited a local charity called Wessex Cancer Trust. Through its support centres, the charity provides a number of services, such as counselling, aromatherapy, reflexology and massage. These are all free to cancer patient and  their family or carer. Like most charities, WCT  relies on donations and fund raising activities to keep going and to provide the free services to its clients, hence this story.

As you can imagine having cancer or a family member having it, is very frightening.  In addition you feel a whole load of other emotions and end up feeling confused and powerless. This tends to make you feel very alone. We both felt WCT helped us, by offering practical and emotional support at a time when  nothing seemed to be in our control. It made a significant contribution to us enjoying our final time together.

I now volunteer, as a befriender, for the charity. About a month ago I was watching an information screen, which had a list of sponsored activities to raise money for the charity. They all seemed to involve running and long distances, from 10km to a marathon. Never in my wildest nightmare have I ever imagined running 10km, let alone a marathon, for me therefore all of these were out of the question. But right at the end of the list, there was a sponsored Skydive and for some reason I do not fully understand, I decided to do it. I know Jackie would have approved, she believed in dangerous sports for older people. At the moment, I feel  excited and confident  in completing the skydive. Hopefully I can  continue to feel like this and not turn into a nervous wreck. I know the money I raise will add to my confidence, so the more you contribute, the better I will feel. So please give generously to a very good cause.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.