A Welshpool sixth form student is planning to take part in a charity skydive this summer.
Freddie Murton-Jones, a 17-year-old from Welshpool, will be doing a sponsored skydive On July 1 in aid of the Lingen Davies Cancer fund.
The skydive will take place at Tilstock Airfield as part of a group, each with their own fundraising goals and charitable causes, where they will be plunging from a height of 10,000 feet.
The fundraising effort is inspired by Freddie’s grandfather, John Evans, who received cancer treatment and has organised his own charity events since, with Freddie now stepping up for a solo fundraising challenge this year.
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On why he chose to make that challenge a skydive, he said: “Well to start with I’m petrified of heights. But that just means it’s something that really forces me to step out of my comfort zone.
“For years we have organised fundraising events as a family that involve the local community like walking up Rodney’s Pillar or taking part in an annual Spin-A-Thon.
“The pandemic interrupted those kind of events, but in the meantime I thought about picking up the baton with a solo challenge and settled on something really out there.
“We’ve already passed the fundraising goal of £400 so I can’t wait to see where we can go in the next few months.”
A sixth form student in Welshpool High School, Freddie is currently studying Geography, Media and P.E while also being a sergeant in ATC Welshpool squadron which he hopes to take to a career in the RAF.
“I’m looking forward to the skydive but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little terrified, but hopefully that will go some way to helping with the fundraising since it’s such a big undertaking.
“My grandad was a bit taken aback when I told him what I was planning to do, especially since he knows I don’t like heights but at the same time I think that made him proud that I was taking on something that was clearly a big challenge for me.
“It’s gone much further than I expected, with local independent shops setting up donation tins, which all goes towards making me even more determined to go through with it.”
Freddie’s JustGiving page for the fundraiser can be found here.
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