Accountant skydives for charity – despite fear of heights

Accountant Matt Cooper has overcome his fear of heights by undertaking a skydive to raise £2,300 for charity.

Matt, Associate Director at Hampshire business and tax advisers HWB Chartered Accountants, supported Mountbatten Hampshire.

He took the plunge from 15,000 feet over Old Sarum in Wiltshire with 60 seconds of freefall before tandem parachuting safely to the ground.

The cause was particularly significant for audit and accounts specialist Matt as both his parents have been undergoing treatment for cancer for several years.

He was joined on the skydive, which had been cancelled three times due to bad weather, by his brother James. His wife Daicy also did the skydive on a separate occasion.

It was James who bought the skydive as an ironic 30^th birthday present for heights-hating Matt, who decided it was a great opportunity to support the charity.

Mountbatten Hampshire, HWB Chartered Accountants’ current charity of the year, is dedicated to providing care and support for people with life-limiting illnesses.

The county’s oldest and largest hospice, it has served the community for more than 45 years and is currently supporting around 1,000 families every day.

He said: “Being launched out of a plane at 15,000 feet and hurtling towards the  fields below at 125mph is not necessarily my idea of fun, but I simply had to do it for Mountbatten Hampshire.

“I’ve been scared of heights for as long as I can remember. I don’t like looking down. I remember going up the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth as a kid and not liking to walk across the Sky Walk glass 100 metres above the harbour.

“I also remember visiting the park with my daughter last summer and being six feet up on a climbing frame – I looked down and started getting a funny stomach, so you can imagine how I felt at 15,000 feet.”

Matt added: “On the skydive itself I didn’t really enjoy the freefall, but it was a thrilling experience once the ripcord had been pulled and the parachute opened. You’re above the clouds, can see the horizon and then float down gently at about 20mph.

“I even had controls of the cords at one point before my instructor took over again and we landed very smoothly. I hardly felt it. The jump was certainly worth it to raise so much money for the charity.

“Mountbatten Hampshire provides vital support and every penny counts towards the essential support they provide – with demand for its services predicted to rise by 40 per cent over the next 18 months.

“Mountbatten gives patients and their families choices and provides the highest quality nursing, medical, and therapeutic care both within the hospice and in people’s homes across Southampton city and large parts of Hampshire.”

HWB Chartered Accountants Managing Director Tracy Jenkins said: “Matt is terrified of heights, but he was determined to overcome his fear to support this worthwhile cause. We are incredibly proud of his courage and dedication.”

Matt, who joined HWB in 2014 and was made Associate Director last year, works with a range of clients from smaller, owner-managed businesses to larger groups and corporates with turnovers in excess of £50 million.

He undertook the skydive with long-established GoSkydive, based at Old Sarum Airfield, near Salisbury, whose team has completed more than 50,000 jumps.

Donations are still being accepted at HWB’s JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/hwb-accountants-skydive

Watch Matt’s skydive here: https://www.hwb-accountants.com/wp-content/uploads/MC-skydive-1.mp4