When Harvey Smith saw his mum Lucy do a skydive for Woking & Sam Beare Hospice a few years ago, he told her that he too would do one when he turned 16.

In the midst of his GCSE’s, Harvey kept his promise and crossed his fingers for clear blue skies at GoSkydive in Salisbury on that May morning. He got his wish as the clouds parted in time for his jump.

“I am so proud of Harvey,” said Lucy. “I’m part of the reception team at the hospice and seeing Harvey do something so brave to raise money for us is just amazing.

“Watching him climb into the plane was such a scary moment but what an amazing experience for him.”

Harvey’s cousin Billie also did the 15,000ft jump with him and together they raised £1,535 plus gift aid in the memory of Sam Molnar, who was cared for at the hospice earlier this year.

Four other brave souls joined Harvey and Billie. Sarah Weller, Emma Harrison, Sally McCabe and Julie Fieldus all had their own reasons for supporting the hospice in this way and the hospice was quick to put on record its gratitude for them pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.

“I wanted to push myself to my limits as I was going to be sponsored for a great cause,” said Sarah.

“Boy, was I pushed to my limits and beyond, but I did it and hopefully helped Woking and Sam Beare, Thank you for the experience.”

Julie added: “I turned 60 in December and have a number of things on my list to do during my sixtieth year – one of which was to raise money for a charity.

“I was ‘encouraged’ to do the skydive by my lovely friend Lindsay who works at the hospice, so I know first-hand the amazing work that they do and didn’t hesitate to choose this charity as the one to raise money for.

“Having always said I’d never jump out of an airplane, I did! It was totally terrifying but also amazingly exhilarating at the same time.

“I was so humbled by the amount of people who paid money to make sure I jumped!”

Harvey’s teacher, Charlie Carver, will be following in his footsteps after he talked her into doing a skydive for the hospice.

The hospice is important to Charlie, as she describes on her JustGiving page: “I’m raising money for Woking & Sam Beare Hospice, a place that means a lot to my family.

“They cared for my grandad in his final days a few years ago, and more recently they looked after our close family friend Sam. The care, compassion and dignity they give to families during the hardest times is incredible.”

Collectively, the team of skydivers have raised more than £6,100 plus gift aid. This equates to over 120 counselling sessions at the hospice.

If you are inspired to take on a challenge to raise vital funds to care for patients and their families across northwest Surrey, the hospice would love to hear from you.

For more information, visit https://wsbh.org.uk/support-us/