When bar manager Geraint Williams joined RNLI Penarth Lifeboat crew, he knew he would be facing some difficult and challenging situations on the stormy seas off Penarth, but he never planned to be hurling himself out of an aeroplane and plummeting earthwards for 12,000 feet.
But that’s just what Geraint will be doing next month, (23rd May) in a bid to raise more than £500 for the RNLI. He will be joining a handful of intrepid fundraisers at Swansea Airfield, some of them from the lifeboat community, to carry out his very first sky dive.
28 year old Geraint, who’s ‘day job’ is managing the Ocho Lounge in Penarth’s Windsor Rd, has been on Penarth lifeboat crew for a year and, along with his fellow crew members, has taken part in a variety of rescues of people in difficulty at sea around Penarth’s coastline and beyond. So although he’s used to putting himself at some risk to help his community, the sky dive is a completely new departure for him, and one that is a real challenge.
“I was part of an airline cabin crew for 5 years, so I’m used to flying and have spent hundreds of hours in the air, but jumping out of a moving aircraft is a totally different matter” said Geraint.
“The whole of Penarth lifeboat crew are volunteers and the RNLI is run entirely from charitable donations. Last year was one of the busiest Penarth RNLI has ever seen, and this year looks to be following the same pattern so with increased demands on the crew comes the need for more equipment and crew training. This is my opportunity to raise much needed funds for this purpose. Although I’ll be doing a tandem jump, along with a qualified instructor, it’s still a massive challenge for me, but I’m determined to go through with it,” he added.
Geraint is well on the way to raising the £500 he needs to carry out the jump, but would still be grateful for more donations – all of which will go directly to the RNLI. Anyone wishing to sponsor him can call into the Ocho Lounge, in Windsor Rd, Penarth, Geraint’s workplace, and fill in his sponsor form, or drop a cheque in to the Ocho Lounge, made payable to RNLI.
