2 Dec 2022 Community

Skydivers raise £3,835 for The Kirkwood

Back in October we had four women who decided to jump out of a plane at 15,000ft all to raise funds for The Kirkwood. The four ladies in question raised a combined total of £3,835 in what was a fantastic event.

On the 9th October Pat Gatenby, Stephanie Carlin, Katie Kaye and Steph Ryder all took on the brave challenge for their own individual reasons, but all had the same goal in mind and that was to raise as much funds as possible.

Pat Gatenby is Sarah’s mum from Sarah’s Wish and originally signed up to do the Skydive in 2020 but a combination of the Covid-19 Pandemic and weather conditions meant that she finally completed the challenge in October. She had lots of friends and family supporting her, including her dog Buffy. Pat has done the Midnight Memory Walk and Colour Rush in the past and always supports any events that Sarah’s Wish are holding. So, thank you Pat for your constant support.

Steph Carlin works at the Travellers Rest in Mirfield who are a longstanding supporter of ours and it was during a meeting to chat about their fundraising activities that Steph was convinced to do a Skydive to raise money for us. A huge thanks and well done to Steph on the day and thanks for the continued support from everyone at the Travellers Rest in Mirfield.

Katie Kaye has previously done our Colour Rush and signed up to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge in 2020. Unfortunately, the original date was cancelled due to the pandemic and Katie couldn’t make the new date, so she signed up to do a Skydive instead. Well done to Katie for taking part and complete her fantastic Skydive.

Finally, Steph Ryder works at Tesco in Batley and has had amazing support from her colleagues. Her son George came on the day to watch her do the Skydive and was proud of his mum. Well done to Steph for her Skydive and we were pleased to have her along on the day.

On taking part on the day, Pat said: “It was an exhilarating experience, the day was well organised. I did have a slight wobble when we got up in the air and I thought what the hell have I done, but I did it and it was great.

“I think it is important to raise funds for The Kirkwood especially in my daughter’s memory. I will continue to raise funds for The Kirkwood going forwards as long as I can.”

Meanwhile Steph Ryder added: “The Skydive is something I have always wanted to do, I have finally ticked it off my bucket list. I didn’t want to do it for no reason, I used to be a carer and I know that nurses don’t get paid enough money. I just wanted to raise awareness of The Kirkwood and raise important funds that are needed.

“After movng up north, I saw The Kirkwood advertising their fundraising events and because of my caring background I have, I just wanted to help The Kirkwood in any way I can.”