Three brave Burnham-On-Sea fundraisers have raised over £2,000 for a local rescue charity by taking part in a sky dive over the weekend.
BARB crewmembers Alan Heal and David Kemp, plus supporter Craig Kick, jumped out of a plane at 15,000ft over Salisbury Plain on Saturday (June 5th) to raise funds for Burnham’s BARB Search & Rescue, which operates rescue hovercrafts and inshore rescue boats.
Alan, 66, says: ”I have always wanted to do a sky dive and now that I’ve reached pension age it was now or never! I’m not a good flyer and I am terrified of heights, so this was a huge challenge for me and completely out of my comfort zone.”
“In fact, on the day, I was more excited than nervous. The only brief moment of anxiety was when I put my legs out over the side of the plane, but I didn’t have time to think about it as that was the point of no return!”
“We free-fell down to 6,000ft for over a minute before my instructor pulled the rip chord and did a couple of twirls that felt like an extreme rollercoaster ride.”
“The views were simply stunning – we saw lots of impressive landmarks from a bird’s-eye view, including Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and Southampton in the distance.”
“It was an amazing feeling – just stunning! There was a gentle glide down to the ground and it was a really smooth landing.”
Alan adds: “I loved every moment of it and would 100 per cent do it again – it was a superb experience. My thanks go to everyone that has supported us and donated funds towards the life-saving work of BARB along our local coastline.”
“When the opportunity arose to do a charity sky dive, I decided it would be a great way to give something back to this amazing organisation. BARB is just a small charity that relies on donations to keep running and, given the challenges of the past year, they need the support more than ever.”
£1,175 has been raised by Alan Heal, £400 by Craig Kick and £415 by David Kemp. Also, Derek Nijenhuis has raised £550 so far, however his sky dive was delayed until later in the year for medical reasons.
If you’re interested in joining a future BARB sky dive, with the support of a leading sky diving company, call Craig Dunbar at BARB on 07765 252451.
To support BARB, see the sky dive fundraising page here.
