Achieving one of her life goals, 30-year-old Acorn Stairlifts employee Laura Belcher is set to make a skydive from 15,000 feet to raise funds for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.
Laura (pictured) will make her adrenaline-fuelled leap onThursday May 17th at Skydive Hibaldstow, a parachuting and skydiving centre in North Lincolnshire. Looking forward to the challenge, she said: “I think it’s the thrill of it – I like to push myself to the limits.”
Laura’s proud parents, Colin and Gaile Whitaker, are going along to support her. They will be holding their breath as their daredevil daughter exits a light aircraft at 15,000ft and enjoys a full minute of freefalling at up to 120mph before her parachute is deployed. As a complete novice, she will make a ‘tandem skydive’, strapped to a fully qualified instructor. It means she can experience all the excitement of a freefall jump without the extensive training needed to do it solo.
“Doing a skydive is a personal goal of mine,” said Laura. “It’s one of the things on my ‘bucket list’ and I thought it would be even better if I could do it and raise some money for Manorlands.”
Having covered the cost of the skydive herself, all the money she raises in sponsorship will go to the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice just a few miles from Acorn's head offices in West Yorkshire, helping provide vital care and support for people with life-limiting conditions.
“Sue Ryder is such a good cause,” said Laura. “Manorlands is there for everybody and so many people, me included, have a loved one who has benefited from it.”
Having worked for 10 years at Acorn Stairlifts, Laura is no stranger to supporting Sue Ryder. The company adopted Manorlands as its local good cause in 2013 and this year hopes to take its fundraising total past the £100,000 mark through various in-house initiatives and staff taking on sponsored challenges.
To make a donation to her skydive challenge, visit her online fundraising page at : https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LauraBelcher2