Member Article

AMsource Technology jump 15,000 ft for ‘Candlelighters Trust’

On Friday 20th February 2015, four of the AMsource team Penny, Harriet, Lisa and Sophia accompanied by Georgia for moral support, were finally able to take part in the much anticipated 15,000ft charity skydive in aid of The Candlelighters Trust, after a couple of cancellations at the mercy of the unpredictable British weather.

Who are Candelighters?

For those that haven’t heard of them, Candlelighters was founded by and is still run by, parents of children who have or have had cancer and the medical staff who treat them. Each year in the UK 1500 children and teenagers are diagnosed with Cancer affecting the lives of them and their families. Candlelighters do fantastic work to fundraise to support families affected by childhood cancer in many different ways which include providing family support and counselling to help families come to terms with a diagnosis and supporting them through treatment. Candlelighters also provide much-needed distraction from the stress of treatment in the form of toys, creating a home-from home environment and they enable patients to enjoy family days out. Additionally, Candlelighters provide funding for extra medical staff and equipment to treat patients. Importantly, some of the money raised by Candlelighters is used to fund imperative medical research surrounding childhood cancers to help improve survival rates. As you can see, we came across this amazing cause and wanted to make a real difference.

You may remember our blog about the bake sale that we organised to raise money for Candlelighters back in September (http://www.amsourcetechnology.com/blog/2014/09/charity-fundraising/). We raised an impressive £155 and had enjoyed the AMsource bake-off, but we wanted to do more. So we chose to take part in a charity skydive and set ourselves an ambitious fundraising target of £2000, because we could see the value that the Candlelighters bring and a skydive seemed like a great way to drive interest and get the generous donations rolling in!

The big day…

On Friday morning we set off from a bright and sunny Leeds to the Target Skydive Centre in a little place called Hibaldstow in Lincolnshire. The mix of anticipation, giddiness, excitement and trepidation was clear as we chatted incessantly for the hour-long journey. As we approached the drop-zone, the realisation of what we were going to do began to sink in.

Luckily for us, the dive centre serves a pretty good cooked breakfast which helped to settle the nerves. While we were waiting to complete our safety briefing, we were able to watch other people going out to do their dives with friends and family cheering them on. During our safety briefing we covered all of the important stuff including the equipment and parachutes, how to exit the plane and how to land safely. We were also able to get some extra tips from a lovely lady who was about to do her 11th jump!

We were then kitted out with our attractive jumpsuits, gloves, helmets and harnesses, equipment checked and checked again then off to the plane. With dry mouths, sweaty palms and nervous grins, we were off into the air, with the team of instructors talking us through it.

“The feeling leaving the plane was like nothing else I’ve ever experienced – it was incredible!” Lisa

“It just felt like it was a dream - A flying dream! I would have never have though it was possible to go swimming in the air or walk through a cloud! I am definitely want to do it again as it was over so fast. Thank you to everybody who sponsored us and helped us raise the £2300 that we did “- Harriet

Sophia-“I think that the wait before and going up in the plane was the scariest part, the wait and anticipation before jumping out of the plane at 15,000ft. With this being said, once those plane doors opened I didn’t have much time for thinking. I was out of the plane in seconds, freefalling at 120mph which can only be described as one of the best things I have ever done. It was exciting to see the countryside from this view, something I have never done before. When the parachute opened it was like being on cloud nice drifting through the air being able to see for miles around.

“I’m not too fond of heights and for the months leading up to the big day, I wondered what I’d signed myself up for! But the jump was so much better than I expected. I have to admit, for a split second when I initially jumped out the plane I did panic, but the feeling of free-falling through the sky was almost like a dream! The dive was definitely the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, I can’t wait to do it again” –Penny.

After an exhilarating day , it was topped off by being treated to a team night out which started off with bowling at Roxy lanes where our MD Andrew completely thrashed us to the win . Followed by food , food and more food and cocktails at Meat Liquor.

Support us :

We would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who has supported AMsource Technology and Candlelighters for this event. For anyone still wishing to support such a great cause, our Just Giving page is open for just a few more days . https://www.justgiving.com/AMSource-Technology/

www.amsourcetechnology.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amsource Technology .