St. Matthew's Church Blackmoor & Whitehill

On Saturday 4th September, Alison Seal and I finally took the “plunge”, literally, out of an aeroplane at 13,000 feet in tandem skydives for St. Matthews.
Sitting at Jilly Prideaux’s kitchen table on a spring evening earlier this year, when Alison and I committed ourselves to doing this jump, it all seemed somewhat surreal, if a little crazy. However as the months, then weeks and finally days passed, it became increasingly real and terrifying! I am not sure at that stage which was the more terrifying, the thought of the jump or of not letting all the incredible people, from right across the globe, supporting us, down. People have been amazing and have really dug deep to sponsor this madcap venture of ours and support St. Matthews.
The 4th September duly arrived, a bright sunny day, and we set off for Netheravon in Wiltshire arriving at about 9.30am in time to register for the jump. A large contingent of loyal St. Matthews supporters arrived shortly after we did and soon a wonderful picnic was set up with everyone settling down to enjoy the day. That is, everyone, except me!! The wait between registering and the actual jump seemed interminable with a minute feeling like an hour.
Finally our names were called and we were taken off for training, kitted out in our jump suits and then sent to wait (again) for the small plane to arrive. By this stage I was petrified and getting paler by the minute and Alison was doing her best to me keep me calm! And then finally we were loaded and taking off, climbing to 13,000 feet. Alison was first to jump and I was last, but finally I was out of the plane and free falling. The actual jump was the most terrifying and yet exhilarating experience of my life. As my 4 year granddaughter said “it was awesome” and I am so pleased that I have actually experienced the thrill of a sky dive. The incredible silence, the feeling of peace and awe at the amazing vista spread below you, was an experience I’ll treasure always.
I must add that I was most impressed with the care and support (and attention to detail) we received from our army instructors, from training through to our landing safely back on the ground.
However the high light for me was when, safely back on terra firma, I looked up to see the smiling faces of all the St. Matthews supporters, all clapping and cheering the two of us. That wonderful display of love and support was so heart warming and also incredibly humbling and made the whole adventure all worth while.
Would I do it again? I think you’ll find Alison agreeing with me when I say “not just yet”!!!!!

Jocelyn Morgan.

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