Jenny Gallie, senior supervisor at The White Horse suggested the idea of a charity skydive back in 2019 and the staff all leapt at the idea! 18 of them signed up to do the tandem skydives for local cancer support charity, Birstall BAGs.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the jumps but since spring a huge fundraising effort has taken place, along with the general sponsorships from customers, family and friends, there have been monthly quizzes, a promise action, a large raffle and charity dinner.

The quizzes, which will continue on the last Sunday of each month, have been expertly devised and compared by Paul Clements, manager at the White Horse. Paul has also instigated the raffle, for which each skydiver had to source the prizes; and the promise auction was also Paul’s brainchild. For this, each jumper had to offer something they could do for others, these included babysitting duties, gardening, car valeting, taxi service and also luxury picnics, cocktails making and afternoon teas.

“The whole team have been instrumental in raising funds and it has been a great bonding experience,” said Paul

The first skydives took place on 26 September 2022, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t suitable for the second team to follow them on 27 September so those jumps have happened in smaller groups since, the final one taking place on 13 October 2022.  Most of the skydivers absolutely loved the experience, which was described as “awesome, breath-taking and exhilarating.”

The skydivers were – Jenny Gallie, Charlotte Foy, James Macmillan, Josh Geary, Alfie Hayward, Ben Joinson, Joe Weetman, Sophie Hall, Tom Beams, Dilan Laxman, Joe Robinson, Beccy Smith, Lauren Regan, Thanisha Laxman, Tanja Eiosdottir, and Alice Keeshan. There’s another two who didn’t manage to take part this time who are set to jump very soon so keep a look out for more information.

The group hoped to raise £5,000 for the charity but smashed that target with an amazing total of £6,421.60.  The Birstall BAGs group were invited to a dinner to celebrate the skydivers fundraising achievements and also the pub’s 14th anniversary under the current team.

Emma Shaw, Trustee at Birstall BAGs said, “We are absolutely overwhelmed at the amount raised by The White Horse Team , they have gone above and beyond in their fund raising , they have been loyal supports of our cause for many years and we are hugely grateful to them all. We are committed to supporting all affected with cancer and this money will go towards helping those in need massively. We can’t thank the them all enough.”