AN intrepid Halesowen mother is preparing to take to the skies – strapped to the outside of a plane - to raise £5,000 for poverty-stricken children in the Philippines.
Jacqui Land-Keavney was inspired to help after being touched by the squalor faced by thousands of youngsters who survive on the nation’s rubbish dumps.
The 50-year-old, of Oak Barn Road, mustered up the courage to sign up for a wing walk, where she will be harnessed to a pole on the centre of a biplane flying at 130mph and 1,000ft in the air.
She said: “I knew I had to do something different to raise that sort of money. I am petrified, but it’s for such a worthwhile cause so that keeps me going.”
The money raised will go towards an accommodation block for children at a charity school, whose shanty homes are at risk from bulldozers.
Daughter Holly, aged 20, is not so keen on her mum’s highflying ambitions, but the part-time care manager, who also designs and sells jewellery online for children’s charities, is no stranger to adventure.
She slept rough for a night in Birmingham raising £450 for the homeless as part of the Big Sleep Out and organised a World Kindness Day at the city’s ICC last year.
Her wing flight, at an Essex airfield, is planned for Sunday August 24 and anyone wishing to sponsor her can do so at virginmoneygiving.com/globalsoul
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