On August the 11th I will be skydiving to raise money for both Birmingham Women’s and Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charities. Currently money donated will contribute to the ongoing work at both the Women’s and Children’s hospital, more information below:

⁃ Currently for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity: The iMRI appeal: Currently a child is put to sleep and a MRI brain scan is taken to obtain the images needed by the neurosurgeons ahead of surgery. Once these images have been analysed the child is given another general anaesthetic and the surgeons complete the operation. During the surgery, the brain will change shape. This means the pre-operative imagery becomes outdated, leaving surgeons at risk of not removing all the tumour. Within three days of the operation, the child is put back to sleep again (for a third time) for a subsequent MRI scan to assess whether the surgery was successful. If the MRI reveals some of the tumour has remained, the surgeons evaluate whether a second operation is required or whether to keep the tissue under review, causing additional stress for patients and their families. Occasionally, the surgeons consider carrying out an off-site intraoperative MRI. This adds four hours to the procedure. Dr William Lo, one of Birmingham’s paediatric neurosurgeons, explains; “Having access to iMRI technology during surgery is critical as it will provide up-to-date images of the brain to allow surgical procedures to continue without delay. Without it, it’s like navigating a city with an outdated roadmap.” The ability to scan a patient mid or towards the end of surgery is transformative. In many cases, the family and surgeon are immediately reassured the tumour has been removed but ultimately it vastly reduces the need for a second operation, sparing patients and families from going through another lengthy surgical procedure. The facility will benefit at least 60 children a year – more than one a week – and could increase Birmingham’s neurosurgical team’s capacity to perform additional operations.

To hear from Dr Lo and hear about Cains story please follow this link: https://youtu.be/pmxbIZYAJoc

iMRI appeal website: https://www.bch.org.uk/pages/category/imri

⁃ Currently for Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity: Woodland House: Birmingham’s Women’s Hospital are close to opening Woodland house but need donations and funding for upkeep and to make the centre a home away from home. Woodland House is a centre for bereaved families following a pregnancy loss or the death of a child, away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital and other families celebrating the birth of their child. Woodland house will provide care, comfort and support for families at their most vulnerable times. Allowing them to spend time in a safe environment with their child. It will also provide a more suitable space to deliver heart-breaking news to families such as informing them their pregnancy is over, or that their child is going to die. Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity state: “We have reached our £3m target, to enable work to start on this much needed centre, however we will continue to fundraise for Woodland House as building starts, and beyond, to continue to make the centre a home away from home, where bereaved families can forget about their surroundings. Our hospital cares for over 2,000 grieving mums and dads every year who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. Every loss is a devastating and uniquely personal experience, but at the moment the space in which our expert bereavement midwives have to hold heart-breaking conversations doesn’t reflect the significance of each family’s loss. News is delivered in cramped ‘quiet’ rooms, often on the maternity ward or in busy outpatient areas, and our patients repeatedly speak of feeling rushed and having ‘nowhere to go’ after receiving devastating news. Woodland House will change this. It will be a brand-new, purpose-built centre away from the hustle and bustle of the main hospital, where families can spend time together in safe, secure and serene surroundings before they feel ready to face the world again. Our bereaved families will never forget the time they spend with us and whilst we can’t ever ease the heartbreak of losing a precious child, you can help us create an environment that recognises and honours their loss.”

To hear real life stories and more about why raising money for Woodland House is so important, please follow this link: https://youtu.be/c0ILefewufw

Woodland House website: https://www.bwh.org.uk/pages/category/woodland-house

Any donations would be greatly appreciated, no matter how big or small as will contribute to such great and important causes.

Additionally, although I could jump from Nottingham (another local airfield) at the weight I am now, due to the equipment at Whitchurch and a strict height/weight limit, to jump at this specific airfield I also have loose 1 stone. Rather than changing my airfield I have also set myself this goal and challenge. However, I will have to opportunity closer to the time to change the jump location if this is not met, so I will be jumping regardless!

UPDATE: (27/07/2023) - I have lost some weight but not the stone yet and rather than risk being charged to change my airfield closer to the jump date - if I do not loose the remaining weight in time, I have decided to change my jump location to Nottingham and therefore will be jumping on the 11th of August no matter what! I will still be continuing my weight loss journey regardless :)

How does the sponsorship work:

£70 deposit for the jump (already paid by myself) - this is not included in the total donation value as this was paid to the skyline company.

Usually, £230 of donations go towards the jump costs, however, after speaking to a representative of the charities I am aware that this will not come out of any of the donations and money raised as they have a separate pot for this. Therefore, all donations will go directly to the charities. However, it would still be amazing to additionally raise this £230 so the charity is not out of pocket and replenish the £230 they pay out, therefore I would like to say a huge thank you to my Grandad for kindly donating this amount (£230) in honour of his brother John. Any money you kindly donate will go directly to the charities and be split between them both.

Thank you for your donations and support!