The Sky’s the Limit
- From the left: Craig Woodley, Gemma Smith, Sharon Kooner, Kully Kaur, Ian Danbury, Ema Jones, Mark Poulton. Front Row: Kelly Andrews, Amanda Childs, Lisa Littleton, Marie Gildea.
The weather was perfect on Saturday 11th August, when seventeen high flying dare devils took to the skies to help raise money for Compton Hospice.
As part of the hospice’s Silver Jubilee celebrations, fifteen of the seventeen chose to take part in a tandem skydive and two chose to attempt a static line jump at Tilstock Airfield, Whitchurch.
The morning started after a short training session when three at a time the tandem participants were nervously loaded into a small aircraft and harnessed to a qualified skydive instructor. On reaching 10,000ft the door opened and the instructors shuffled them to the exits before jumping. What followed was a 30 second freefall at 120mph until their parachutes opened and they gently spiralled to the ground.
- Maria Kikillos receives some sound advice from instructor Tony Lightfoot.
It was a different story for the static line jumpers. They had a full day’s rigorous training before being taken up to 3,000 ft. At the correct altitude the door to their aircraft opened and they had to rely on their own courage to exit the plane. Their parachutes were automatically deployed as they exited but they had a very nerve wracking four second wait until they could look up and check that their parachute was fully open. It was only then that they could relax and enjoy the scenery as they steered themselves back to the ground.
Both types of jump are a huge test of nerves and daring, and take great courage to complete.
- A perfect landing for Cheryl Bristow
“The 25th anniversary skydive is proving to be a complete success” comments Michelle Price, community fundraiser for Compton Hospice. She adds “We have already had nineteen skydivers so far this year which is a record number for the hospice, and also have a further three people booked up to attend in a few weeks time.”
Compton Hospice are hoping to raise over £6000 through skydiving and would like to thank everyone that has already taken part. Anyone still wishing to skydive can book places on most Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. For further information contact Michelle Price on 0845 2255 497 or email michelleprice@compton-hospice.org.uk
