Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I cant remember the last time  I have asked anyone to sponsor me or donate (although any offers of a new liver are more than welcome) to a charity of my choice!

Recently I was asked if I would support a local chrity here in Aberdeen and after speaking to a few friends involved I decided to support a charity on a local level now that Aberdeen is my new home. The Go Loopy challenge on 24th April 2010 gives me the opportunity to do just that.

The Cyrenians believe that homelessness is one of the most destructive and degrading experiences any human being can ever undergo. Each year in Aberdeen over 2,000 people do not have a key to their own front door. The cyrenians' aim is to meet the needs of people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or affected by homelessness in any way. They listen to their difficulties, understand their needs, share their burden, provide support and ultimately find permanent solutions for their problems.

Each has lost stability, independence, identity, privacy, the opportunity to make even the simplest of choices and all basic material comfort. Life becomes a survival situation. Is it any wonder that someone has not got a clear idea of their long term future when they dont even know when they will be able to eat again?

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So just what am I doing?

As you may or may not know I have decided to take part in the Go Loopy Challenge 2010.  Stupidly enough this will involve me flying an Extra 300 aerobatics plane, apparently the equivalent of a Formula 1 car, high above the Perthshire countryside in Bonnie Scotland. 

The Extra 300 is a state of the art high performance aerobatics machine and the flying equivalent to a Formula 1 racing car.  I'll be sitting in the front seat with the flying instructor in the back.  These  former military training aircraft are still used by 10 Air Forces around the world and have mid level aerobatics capability.  Most importantly this aircraft is built for FUN and is apparently a joy to fly, who knows I may become a Red Arrow yet!

They tell me my flight will start with an introduction on the effects of controls and how to fly the airplane and then move on to the especially exciting or frightening part……..The Aerobatics.  I'll be given instructions on how to fly the aerobatic ELEMENTS (can't believe I'm actually typing these words!!) loops, rolls and stall turns before being asked to perform these all by myself. 

So please dig deep and donate now! Thank you in advance!

JJ