Sunday, 9 March 2008

Donations coming in ...


I'm very grateful to those who have joined my list of sponsors - I haven't done this sort of thing before, and I feel humbled and grateful when people donate for the cause. I hope I can raise a good total for the overworked donkeys, mules and horses that the Brooke treat.

A few people have also recounted their stories of making parachute jumps ... not to put me off you understand, but I think there is a sort of club or brotherhood of 'jumpers' which I never knew existed !!

My workmate Laura has shown me her tandem jump video - her jump was over a coast in Australia, and includes wonderful views of beach and blue sea in a freefall descent lasting 60 seconds. Well maybe Salisbury plain won't look quite the same, but I'm certainly getting a taste for it !! The exit from the plane still looked a little scary though!
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WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?

On 29th June 2008 I will be plunging towards Wiltshire from an aircraft at 10,000 ft - experiencing freefall and attempting a safe landing in the company of 2 instructors but depending on MY OWN PARACHUTE! YES, IT'S NOW A SOLO JUMP! Why? Well, I love flying but have no head for heights. Scary! But it's something I'd love to do - and more than that - I hope it will raise some money for a charity - the Brooke Hospital for Animals. 'The Brooke' work across the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and South America operating 66 mobile teams and 13 field clinics to provide much needed veterinary care for 650,000 working horses, donkeys and mules a year. An average of 6 people are dependent on each working animal, so the livelihoods of three million people are at stake. And around 80% of the ailments treated are the result of owner ignorance or poverty. The Brooke use education to help change this, and work with local people to find long-lasting solutions to the equine problems they encounter, placing particular emphasis on educating and involving children in good welfare practices. The working animals they reach are mostly used to transport people and carry or pull loads of food, goods, building materials or bricks. They work in the harshest of terrain for long hours at temperatures of up to 50 degrees celsius. And the loads borne and the harness worn can be cruel. These practices can be changed. And the Brooke have an on-going programme to install portable water troughs and shade shelters in places where the working animals congregate. The Brooke are working with Bristol University Veterinary School to study the suffering of working animals in the developing world, identify the worse problems and determine the most effective ways of ending that suffering.
A little money goes a long way. £2 could pay for treatment of one emergency case, £10 could pay for anti-rabies vaccinations for 20 horses or donkeys, £25 could shoe 45 horses, £38 could pay for a community educator for a week in a village. £50 could pay for an entire mobile team including fuel, staff and medicines fr one day, £90 for medicines for a week, £250 would install a hand pump and water trough providing fresh water for a whole community.
I'm willing to throw myself from a plane - are you willing to sponsor me? I would be so grateful if you would! Thank you!

About Me

Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Vet, animal lover, bookworm, tv addict, sometime adventurer, globe trotter, Christian, trekkie, archaeologist and football fan with a taste for chinese food and fish and chips