Teachers Take the Leap for Charity: Headteacher and Colleague to Skydive for Sam's Gift

Two teachers from Audenshaw School will be doing a sponsored skydive to raise money for charity.

Miss Mason and headteacher Mr Taylor will be jumping out of a plane on Saturday in support of Sam’s Gift, which supports children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer across Greater Manchester.

“I just wanted to raise some money for the Year Elevens for their leavers’ do, and we're looking to do it for Sam’s Gift as well,” Miss Mason said.

“I thought the only way we’re going to get people to participate is by doing something really bizarre and out of our comfort zone.

“I don’t know where the idea came from, to be honest. I just decided I was going to jump out of a plane to raise money, and it was as simple as that!”

After Miss Mason came up with the idea for the skydive, she publicly challenged Mr Taylor to take part in the event after an assembly on astronauts.

My Taylor said: “At the start of the new calendar year, [we had] an opportunity to talk to our young people about ‘anything is possible, and there are no limits to what you can achieve’ - so I took them on a bit of a journey of my ambition to be an astronaut.  

“At the end, I ended with ‘although I won’t be an astronaut because I love my role as a headteacher so much, anything is possible and you should never put limits on what you can achieve’.

“And that, I thought, was the end of that journey. But it wasn’t, because Miss Mason picked up on that notion of going somewhere high.”

After Mr Taylor’s assembly, Miss Mason gathered both students and staff to an assembly, where she played a pre-recorded video challenging him to get involved.

Miss Mason said: “In the words of all the boys, I ‘outed’ him in front of all the Year Elevens to see if he would do it, and he agreed!”

The Sam’s Gift charity was set up in 2015 by the family of Sam Nicholls, who passed away from cancer a year prior. They have since gone on to raise over £150,000, and have helped over 1,000 young people who have been diagnosed with the disease.

“Someone in our school’s got a personal connection to the charity,” Miss Mason said, “so we thought we’d put that all together and raise money for them as well as the Year Eleven’s leaving do.”

“We’re excited to not only make a lifelong memory, but also raise important funds for such an incredible cause,” Mr Taylor said.

The jump will be taking place above Lancaster Airfield on Saturday 29^th.

The teachers are hoping to raise at least £5,000 following the skydive and have set up a GoFundMe page for the cause.  

The Sam’s Gift charity is open to donations on their website.