Hi it's Mark,

I'm doing something called an 'accelerated freefall' parachute jump on the 1st May, which essentially is a skydive from 15,000 feet that takes a day's training to prepare for before taking the leap (more or less) alone. It's in aid of a charity called the Heart Cells Foundation.

Here's why I'm jumping and why I need YOUR help;

Some of you may or may not know, but my dad passed away in October last year. After all of the emotions that I went through at that time, I really felt like I had to do something positive that I could take away from that particular experience so that I could in some way look at it in a positive light. Raising money for a charity in his memory is certainly something that he would have liked to happen, and the challenge that it presents to me personally is something that he would have encouraged. My father's passing was caused by a coronary heart disease, and the charity that I've chosen I feel definitely reflects that and as such has come to mean a lot to me.

The Heart Cells Foundation are a charity that have been working for the last 4 years towards improving the quality of life for those that suffer from coronary heart disease by doing research and trials involving stem cells that have otherwise not been done or thought about in the UK. The kind of treatment that they are looking towards is available in countries in Europe but has yet to be verified over here. In some cases, including that of the man who started the foundation, it can expand lives by years and improve the quality drastically.

Their goal is to raise £6.5m, and in their short time so far they've already managed over £5m of this. However, they still rely on donations from all kinds of people to finish the phases that they need to to get these treatments verified. For more information on this charity, you can visit www.heartcellsfoundation.com.

With these reasons in mind please, please, by giving what you can, help me raise money for this incredible charity by sponsoring me for this skydive. It would mean so much to me to be able to do this.

Thanks for reading,

Much love,

Mark

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