Dare Devil Carers Plunge 10,000ft for Homes' Mini-bus Fund
On Saturday 22nd June 2019, five members of staff from Mountbatten Lodge care home in Hemel Hempstead braved the skies by completing a 10,000ft tandem skydive at an airfield in Cambridgeshire to raise money to go towards the residents’ mini-bus fund.
Mountbatten Lodge in Hemel Hempstead is a 60-bed care home managed by not for profit care provider Quantum Care. The home set themselves a huge fundraising target at the beginning of 2018 in a bid to one day being able to buy their own mini-bus for the residents.
Staff are constantly looking for ideas of how they can raise money and last year completed various fundraisers including a sponsored walk, Easter Fair, Christmas Party and more recently a Teddy Bears Picnic. Local Councillor, Tina Howard generously added to the fund when she enabled the allocation of £2000 from the authorities’ locality budget and presented the home with a cheque in March of this year.
Despite still having a way to go to reach the £10,000 target needed, members of staff appear not to be defeated when they proposed to Home Manager, Priscillia Okwuka the desire to take the plunge in order to raise more money. The team of five consisted of Sheila Tizzard, Alison Crane, Janet Adams, Shannon O’Sullivan and Steven Mardley.
The adrenalin filled staff all completed the tandem skydive of 10,000ft that included up to approximately 30 seconds of freefalling reaching speeds of 125mph before the parachute opened. Sponsorship money collected so far is £2000 bringing them even closer to the target.
Mountbatten Lodge Home Manager, Priscillia Okwuka said: “Proud does not even come close to how I feel about the team that completed the parachute jump. In the weeks leading up to the jump I have observed excitement, nerves and anxiety. Now I feel in total admiration for them. They returned to work in very high spirits wanting to go again to my amazement.”
“I am of course proud of all the staff here at Mountbatten Lodge. Everyone pulls together, including our resident and relatives. We are just like one big family. When we finally reach our target there is certainly going to be a big celebration, we are halfway to our target now and events like this seem to make us even more determined to get there. “
“It will make such a big difference for our residents when we are able to buy our own mini-bus. Having the freedom and choice to go out would give our residents so much more independence and will deliver significant benefits to overall wellbeing. A trip to the shops or to sit in a park in the summer months can break up the day. I know we have a massive journey ahead of us but I feel really determined that we can do this now.”
If you would like to help fundraise or hear more about the services available at Mountbatten Lodge including information on fundraising events that are open to the public, please call 01442 244188 or email mountbatten@quantumcare.co.uk.