Elisha Cater
Elisha's Fundraising Challenge
Fundraising for The RYA Foundation
Story
Tandem Sky Dive! Raising Money in aid of Hanningfield Sailability Project
Date: Sunday 8th August 2010
Time: Arrival 08:15
Place: Headcorn Parachute Club www.headcornparachuteclub.com
Height: 12,000 ft
Speed: 120mph
Thanks for visiting my fundraising page!
You maybe asking yourselves why would you put yourself up to such a scary challenge of jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft to earth, is it for the fun of it? is it because you have gone insane? I will tell you why, this is for my grandad who is a prime example and inspiration to all disabled people who want to achieve the goals they may think are unattainable.
My Story
My grandad was a fit man and had a physical working life, was even a Jockey back in his younger days but in 1995 my grandad's life would change forever. He had a severe stroke which left him paralysed on his right side, unable to talk or do anything for himself. My grandad was in the early stages of trying to recover from the stroke when one year later, in 1996 he had a heart attack and then a few months later a blood clot was found on one of his lungs. This then set my grandad back with the process of recovering from the stroke. With determination and support from the hospital and family my grandad managed to get back his speech and strength to be able to walk around his home with the aid of a walking stick and when leaving the home the aid of a wheel chair. Due to my grandad having a passion to be active, it took him many years to find an activity that would be suitable for him, then he found Royal Yachting Association sailability.
The Charity
RYA sailability is the charity of the Royal Yachting Association which offers people who think they can’t even get on a boat, let alone sail it, the chance to achieve the self reliance that sailing can bring and feel the exhilaration of being on the water. http://www.rya.org.uk/programmes/ryasailability/Pages/RYASailability.aspx
My grandad and a fellow sailor are running a project called 'Hanningfield Sailability' this is to open a new club at Hanningfield Reservoir in Essex. The reservoir offers a large non-tidal, open water, with shore side facilities for storage of boats and equipment, they now have the opportunity to offer a complete sailing experience on a regular basis. There is much work to be done to form the club and this includes money, this is why I am taking up such a challenge to raising money to help the club get started and to give something back to such a worthy charity who have help my grandad.
I have never done such an extreme challenge, so its going to be a very interested, scary experience, but I will be sure to post the video of my jump for you to enjoy and no doubt have a good laugh at my facial expression when leave the plane!
Appreciate your support in helping me reach my above target.
Thank you
P.S - I have attached a few clips for you to see what I have got myself into............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4SZOo-pVho
http://www.headcornparachuteclub.co.uk/tandem-skydiving.html