Volunteers sky dive for Shropshire family charity
Four intrepid women are training for a sky dive to raise funds for a Shropshire charity that supports families with children aged under five.
Home-Start Telford & Wrekin provides crucial support to families with children aged under five helping parents manage daily life and widen links within their community through home visits and support.
The four brave volunteers have already started fund raising for the sky dive on August 31st at Tilstock airfield near Whitchurch. They hope to raise at least £3,000 for the charity.
The four – Ruth Martin of Martin & Jones Marketing, chartered surveyor Zoe Clifton of CQS Solutions, health coach Michelle Le Long of Michelle Le Long Coaching and Helen Columb of Turas Accountants – have joined forces to complete the sky dive as the charity’s main fund raising event of 2024.
Michelle Le Long has already raised £740 towards the total with a cake sale, samosa sale, plant sale and raffle and has more fund raising lined up.
“I’m really excited and a little bit terrified. It’s a wonderful charity so raising as much money as I can would be amazing,” she said.
Michelle, 57, who lives near Wolverhampton, has offered to do the sky dive to support a friend who works for Home-Start Telford & Wrekin but cannot take part for medical reasons.
“I did a couple of abseils quite a few years ago and have been involved in the Pretty Muddy events but never anything quite like this. They say you should do things in life that excite you and frighten you and this really is the whole package.
“But I’ll put my trust in the guys who are doing it with us – they do it all the time – and I’ll probably close my eyes, at least initially,” said Michelle.
Home-Start Telford & Wrekin volunteers visit families with children aged under five to help them deal with the challenges of bringing up young children.
The charity also delivers six family groups throughout the borough offering weekly support to parents who are often isolated and lonely, providing them with an informal and non-judgmental environment to meet other parents and get advice and support.
Sharon Uppal of Home-Start Telford & Wrekin said the charity was amazed at the bravery of the four and delighted with the fund raising effort.
“It’s a fantastic thing that they are doing for us and we will be supporting them in any way that we can,” she said.
Further information on the sky dive and how to make a donation is at the foursome’s Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/team/home-starttw2024
