A 12,000ft Parachute Jump in Memory of my Father, Lance Cole

I'm not keen on heights and I'm not keen on confined spaces. So combine the two and for me, you get a very uncomfortable environment.

Yet, those who know me may be surprised to read that I have for some time been rather keen on the idea of doing a parachute jump for charity. A bungee jump? Not a chance, no way. But a tandem parachute jump? Whilst I can't really explain why, yeah...it's interested me.

Lance Cole

In memory of my father, Lance Cole

My health scare before Christmas kind of reminded me of the important things in life and it gave me the idea of using my final few months as Ceredigion County Council Chairman to do something different and to raise loads of cash for a worthy cause in doing so.

As it happens, this coming June will see the 10th anniversary of my father Lance Cole's passing and it seemed only right that I remember his memory by doing something completely different and in doing so, raise money for a cause that we as a family, are close too.

For my father was born with a hole in the heart and throughout his life, often suffered with ill health due to heart-related problems. It was said by doctors that it was a medical miracle that he lived for as long as he did. When Dad passed away, he was 66.

British Heart Foundation Cymru's Defibrillator Appeal
My family as a result have long been particularly supportive of the British Heart Foundation and having supported the likes of the Welsh Air Ambulance, the RNLI and Cardigan Cancer Care during my year of office, I felt there was no better way of concluding my fundraising activity for these past 12 months than by supporting the BHF.

Their current appeal here in Wales alongside the Welsh Ambulance Service is to raise £200,000 during this and next year to fund the placement of defibrillators in rural communities that fall outside of the 'Golden 8 Minute' ambulance waiting-time zone.

Many people in Wales are dying unnecessarily from cardiac arrest. The BHF and Welsh Ambulance Service want to change this by training more people in emergency life support skills and to place many more defibrillators (AEDs) in locations across Wales.

Half of cardiac arrests out of hospital are witnessed by others. Yet only about 10% of these people survive. With more people trained in emergency life support skills and more defibrillators on the ground, many more could live.

This is why I'm supporting this cause and I hope you can help me too by giving a donation to watch me, quite literally, jump out of a plane!

You can do so here...https://www.justgiving.com/John-Mark-Cole.

Thank you for reading and with your support, we can make a real difference.