Newbiggin-by-the-Sea grandmothers raise £2,500 with charity skydive for Macmillan Cancer Support

Sonia Anderson, 55, Alison Horne, 67, Eileen Alderman, 72, and Nancy Charlesworth, 72, took the leap in Peterlee on Sunday, October 1 after a week’s delay due to bad weather.

The group met while volunteering at the Elizabethan Hall in Newbiggin, turning the building into a community hub and garden. Despite only knowing each other a short time, they agreed to skydive together and prove that age is only a number.

The self-described ‘Newbiggin Nana Ninjas’ have been collecting cash and online donations for the cancer charity as their nerves and excitement built ahead of the jump.

Sonia said: “The people who you jump with, who you are attached to, they just put you at ease. They keep talking to you all the way through but we were nervous.

“The way they do it, they shove you forward so quickly that you do not actually realise that you are hanging from the side of an aeroplane.

“When you fall out of that plane your heart literally jumps out your mouth, your stomach jumps to where your heart should be, but it was just exhilarating.”

The skydivers would have been falling at around 130mph before their instructors pulled the cord to open their parachutes.

Sonia said: “When they pull the cord you go shooting, but then it is complete silence and you are in awe.

“It really is the most wonderful experience we have ever gone through. Absolutely and utterly fantastic.”

Sonia said the supportive messages they have received, the turnout at the fundraising coffee mornings they organised, and the donations to their appeal have “been amazing” and makes them all proud of their achievement.

She said: “We have had so many messages and although not everyone was able to donate, which was fine, they have shared it.

“We got so many messages of support and we had 11 family members who turned up to Peterlee on the Sunday. The support has just been amazing.

“We are so proud of ourselves and it is for the best cause. It really is for the best cause.”

The group is continuing to raise funds at gofundme.com/f/4-ladies-skydiving-for-macmillan-cancer-research.