The story begins back in September 2023, when a couple of cadets approached me about the possibility of taking part in a Parachute Jump. I spoke with Captain Knight about it and we agreed it was a great idea.

Due to age restrictions, only the Senior cadets were able to take part. It was something they wanted to do and suggested making it a charity event. We originally wanted to do a static line jump, this entails a 1.5-day training and a jump attached to the aircraft which automatically deploys the parachute and then the student needs to take control of the parachute until landing. Much more interactive. However, on contacting the Army Parachute Association (APA) they were unable to fit us in on the available days we had, they could however fit us in to do a Tandem Jump.

A Tandem Jump is a one-day event consisting of safety drills, what to do whilst under canopy and how you will be attached to your instructor followed by “throwing yourself out of a perfectly good aircraft attached to an expert”.

The day finally came on the 30 March 2024, the Senior Cadets were dropped off at the school by their parents, and full of trepidation, anxiety, and many other emotions we left for Netheravon Airfield.

We reported to the APA, and within 30 minutes the training started, some worried faces appeared as it was all getting very real for them. After the safety brief, body positions and signals were talked about and what to do on landing. Then introduced to their instructors.

Within an hour the first 5 Cadets boarded the aircraft and took off anxiety levels were through the roof. Twenty-five minutes later and at 13500 feet they individually leapt with their instructor from the aircraft, each freefalling for about 2 minutes before the main parachute was deployed and then all they had to do was admire the scenery.

Then it was the turn of the second group to go through the same process, but with a thousand butterflies in their stomachs after listening to the first group talking about their jump.

Both groups landed safely and were beaming with smiles and full of adrenaline, one, Cpl Smiley even declared that she wanted a planned career change to do sky diving full time. All cadets thoroughly enjoyed the experience, even those that needed some extra pep talk are glad that they took part.

It was nice to see so many parents at the event and supporting their child during the build-up and gaining sponsorship for the nominated charities, at the time of writing we had raised £2600, and possibly once all monies are collected could become £3000.