12 novice skydivers from Hinkley Point C Power Station recently put their fears aside to raise a huge amount of money for our Charity. Front man, Neal Smedley, closely beefed up by PJ Doyle rallied together a team and let us have this great story.
“There’s more and more awareness of the amount of people suffering with mental health issues in construction and even worse, publicity around the number of suicides in our industry. I was aware of the great work that Lighthouse Club does to help people in crisis situations. Through whatever cause or reason mental health is a really big issue and needs more recognition so people can get past the stigma and reach for the phone to speak with someone. This is definitely the first and most important step.
Working at Hinkley Point C Power Station in Somerset, we all understand the pressures of working in construction. Working in construction can be hard enough at the best of times, but this year has been more stressful than anyone could have ever imagined with the Corona Virus adding to the mental health Issues.
I wanted our fundraising to be the event that pulls in the most money and I wanted it to be the ultimate challenge, so a 15,000 feet tandem skydive it was! It was also a little bit of escapism from everything to raise some hope and to help people in our industry who are really struggling.
I suggested it to a few colleagues and very quickly I had 12 sky divers willing to put their fears aside for this fantastic charity.
We did our dives throughout August, September and October at Dunkeswell Airfield Honiton.
It was an absolutely fantastic experience and to free fall for approximately 50 seconds before the chute is deployed is incredible. I am so proud of our team for getting involved and seeing it through and most importantly of all, we managed to raise the fantastic amount of £7,450 pounds for the Lighthouse Club Charity. We’re looking forward to planning another event for next year so watch this space!”
Huge thank you to al 12 sky divers, and to everyone who contributed to the fantastic donation.
