Skydive: Another one! This time to raise funds for spinal research

Skydive in aid of Spinal Research

Many of you in and around Billingshurst will either know Ray Chick as the treasurer and one of the fundraisers for the Billingshurst Macmillan Cancer Support Group or as one of the Committee of the Billingshurst Horticultural Society whose successful summer show took place recently in the Billingshurst Community Centre on 21 August.

The Billingshurst Macmillan Cancer Support Group is blessed with the most amazing and enthusiastic Chair, Terri Ashpool, who three years ago did a tandem skydive in aid of Macmillan to celebrate her 50th birthday. It was at this time that Ray volunteered to do a similar skydive to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2021.

Like many others Ray was unable to celebrate his 70th birthday earlier in the year due to COVID lockdown so the tandem skydive eventually took place on Sunday 22nd August after two cancellations due to poor weather at Netheravon in Wiltshire, home to the Red Devils Army Parachute Team. A past work colleague of Ray was the treasurer of Spinal Research who was paralysed playing rugby in his 20s and confined to a wheelchair until his death in 2019 and it was in his memory and for Spinal Research that Ray did his skydive. So far he has raised over £2,750 towards funding further research for a cure for spinal paralysis. Ray reports that he had the most amazing instructor who had done over 5,500 jumps and made him feel very safe and relaxed. He and his instructor were last out of the plane (15 parachutists cramped on the floor of a Cessna 208 Caravan) and fell from 14,000ft to 6,000ft in what seemed like just seconds before the instructor pulled the ripcord and another 1,000ft before the parachute opened. It was shear bliss after that as the instructor rotated the parachute slowly pointing out all the landmarks as they floated ever so slowly down (Stonehenge, Boscombe Down, etc). Asked if he would do it again Ray said, “It was a truly wonderful experience and I’m so pleased I did it, but would I do it again? Possibly, but not definitely!”

Photos: Ray (in rugby shirt) before, after and during his skydive!

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Dandelion Farewells supporting Baby Loss Awareness Week, October 2021

9-15th October is Baby Loss Awareness Week. In recognition of the personal stories and the charities offering support, we are giving over our magazine page to a very special family and their fundraising project, formed from their own experience:

Ride4Ruby – a 330 mile bike ride from London to Paris in memory of our daughter, Ruby, was due to take place in April 2020, however due to Covid-19 this was postponed. Chris (Ruby’s daddy), Richard (Ruby’s Uncle) and our good friend Ben have made the decision to reschedule their challenge to 2022 where we hope the bike ride will go ahead. This has not put a stop to their training though, and in October this year Chris, Richard and Ben will cycle 187 miles on part of the UK’s National Cycle Highway from Bristol to Bude as part of our ongoing fundraising for the Little Roo Neonatal Fund. On Wednesday 5th June 2019 at 4:09am our daughter Ruby was born just a few hours after her due date. We had a wonderful textbook pregnancy and labour, however during the final stages of labour Ruby did not receive oxygen, and therefore, after resuscitation, she was left with a brain injury called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). Ruby was transferred from East Surrey Hospital to Ashford & St Peters Hospital in Chertsey where she was cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Chris and I were able to stay in one of the five family rooms in the NICU whilst our immediate family stayed closed by. Ruby tried so hard for two and a half days to live, however there was sadly no improvement on her brain activity and therefore we, as her mummy and daddy, had to make the worst decision anyone should ever have to make, and that was to remove her life support. On Friday, June 7, at 6.57pm we said goodnight to our beautiful, dark haired baby girl, Ruby. Whilst this was the hardest thing we have ever had to go through, we were able to do it with such dignity and care with thanks to the incredible NICU team and our family by our side. We were able to do all the normal things any mummy and daddy would do in the first few days of their newborns life. After we had said goodnight to Ruby we were able to stay together as a family for a further three days in the Daffodil Bereavement Room. Whilst we made plans for Ruby’s Celebration, Judith, Jo and their wonderful team at Dandelion Farewells in Wisborough Green cared for our daughter with empathy and sensitivity, enabling us to create many more treasured memories together as a family. The Ride4Ruby team have already raised an outstanding amount of over £11,000 for the Little Roo Neonatal Fund based at Ashford & St Peters. More about the ride and charity can be found on the fundraising page – www.virginmoneygiving.com/Ride4Ruby2020

Dandelion Farewells Limited

Church View, Billingshurst Road, Wisborough Green, West Sussex RH14 0DY t: 01403 701001 • e: judith@dandelionfarewells.com www.dandelionfarewells.com

At Phoenix Care we are dedicated to providing person-centred and exemplary health, domestic, social and personal homecare to those in Billingshurst, Horsham, Pulborough, Storrington and the surrounding areas. If you would like to find out more about the services we offer, please contact us using the details below or visit our website. sarah.marshall@phoenixcaresussex.co.uk 01403 336729

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Aurora wins Firework Championships!

Aurora Fireworks are a local firework display company who has had the privilege of working locally in the Billingshurst area for many years. We are looking forward to entertaining the community again this year after the lockdowns for the Pandemic meant that last year’s events could not take place.

During the past 18 months when swathes of companies involved in the events industry have been closed Aurora took part in The British Fireworks Championships, Plymouth, 2021 and are delighted to announce that on 19th August became Champions!

The winning display was fired second on the second night of the competition beating 5 companies over the two evenings. Each display lasts 10 minutes and began with a traffic light start of a red then amber then green shell. The displays were all fired electronically, and the standard was exceptionally high over the two nights. It was broadcast via Plymouthlive which may be viewed on Youtube – search for ‘Aurora Fireworks – British Fireworks Championships (Plymouth 2021) 1st place prize winners’.

The winning display itself had in excess of 2700 cues and had around 700 shots in the finale alone! A team of 16 were on site on the day but many months of show design, preparation of Risk Assessments and documentation as well as physically preparing the display prior to leaving our base had taken place. As a part of their environmental policy Aurora used no plastic components in the display and single use plastic was kept to a minimum. This is in line with Plymouth’s ambition to become a zero single-use plastic city.

Also included in the finale were British-produced large calibre shells for the first time in many years!

The entire Aurora Fireworks Team are really looking forward to this bonfire season with over 50 displays scheduled. Hope to see you there! Robert Byles Aurora Fireworks Ltd

Photo: Aurora’s winning display – see text for YouTube link