On 15th July 2018, I am going to strap myself to a professional parachutist, and throw myself out of a perfectly good aeroplane, flying at 15000 feet above the ground. I am then going to plummet towards the earth for 60 seconds, before (hopefully!) a parachute will open, and we will both float gracefully to earth.
Why am I doing this? Because, my daughter, Taylor, who has already gone through this torture once, thought that paying the deposit for me to do a jump would make an excellent Christmas present!!!
Taylor is also jumping on the same day, so we decided that we would both self fund our jumps, and then raise as much money as possible for charities that are close to our hearts.
So, why Tonic for Mental Health?
Both my wife and my youngest daughter, Ora, have suffered from mental health issues. Watching one of your children suffer is particularly hard to deal with. As she progressed through school, it became apparent that she was struggling with day to day events. Anxiety and panic attacks worsened, and there were days she could not go to school at all.
The one stable thing in her life was, and still is, music. Ora loves to sing, and that one constant in her life brought some much needed stability to her mind when nothing else seemed to work. She was able to access the music department at school whenever she needed to, and the school were very supportive.
She has now left school, but is still struggling to cope with her mental illness.
Funding for mental health issues has been cut dramatically, and there is always a long waiting list every time Ora gets referred to see a specialist. That is why organisations such as Tonic are so important.
Please see www.tonicmusic.co.uk for more information.
Thank you for your support.
Dave
