A SERIES of fundraising events by a Launceston duo has culminated in a tandem skydive at Perranporth.

Leah Docherty of Trebullet and Ian Morrison of Treburley have raised just over £2,600 for Myeloma UK to raise awareness of this relatively rare form of cancer.

Leah said: “When I first thought about raising money for this charity I had a target of £1,000 in mind but with the overwhelming support from the local community we are delighted to have raised this much.” 

Leah’s mum, Janet, was diagnosed with myeloma in 2016 and is still bravely battling her terminal diagnosis.  

Over the summer Leah and Ian hosted a pool tournament, quiz night, coffee morning and a live music event at the Treburley Social Club and another coffee morning at Trebullet Church Hall. Ian said: “We were very conscious that we didn’t want to ask the same people to keep dipping into their pockets so we held a variety of different events over the summer and the support from our family and friends has been fantastic.”

In September they did a skydive at Perranporth and were joined by family and friends on a lovely sunny day, and because Leah and Ian paid for the skydive themselves they were able to donate all the sponsorship to the charity.

They were joined for the skydive by Lauren Carlyon, of Altarnun, who said: “I couldn’t miss out on this opportunity, and I was really happy to support my friend Leah and her family with the fundraising for charity.”

Leah is planning some more fundraising next year but she said: “The generosity of people has been brilliant, but I am going to give everyone a break until next spring, and then I’ll be fundraising again and I’ll think of some more events to get people involved in and I want to have as much fun doing it as possible!”

The last word went to Leah’s mum Janet, who surprised and delighted everyone when she said: “My diagnosis won’t stop me from living my life, so I’m going to join them on a skydive next year!”