Mayor of Winchester flying high for charities
The sky is the limit for the Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Jane Rutter, as she takes on two daredevil stunts to raise funds for the Mayor’s charities.
On 30 April the Mayor will brave a 100m drop by abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower with six of her fellow mayors from Portsmouth, Gosport, Eastleigh, Southampton, Havant and East Hampshire.
The Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Rutter said:
When the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth invited me and five other mayors to join him to abseil down the Spinnaker Tower I was full of enthusiasm and jumped at the chance.
This is truly an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and money for my chosen charities. I will certainly be nervous on the day but I will be encouraged by the sight of my fellow Mayors all preparing to do the abseil as well. We should make quite an unusual sight!
Five days later on 5 May, Cllr Rutter will wing-walk over the Cotswolds with a series of swooping fly-pasts on the wing of a Boeing Stearman biplane with AreoSuperBatics Flying Circus as the culmination of her charity fundraising efforts during her year in office. She is doing the wing-walk with Phryn Dickens, a friend and former County Councillor, who is also raising funds for one of Jane’s mayoral charities, Street Reach.
Cllr Rutter added:
When I was elected Mayor I never imagined that I would end up being attached to a biplane and flown around at up to 130 mph. Phryn asked at the Street Reach Annual General Meeting if anyone would join her in doing a wing-walk. I surprised myself and volunteered then and there as I thought it would be fun and great to offer her some support. This is a great way to end my time in office; I will literally be going out on a real high!
I am very excited (if slightly anxious) about wing-walking and hope that I will raise a lot of money for some very worthy charities that are close to my heart.
The charities Cllr Rutter has elected to support during her time in office are: Combat Stress; Music for All; Home Start; Street Reach and Winchester Youth Counselling.
For more information, visit: http://www.mayorofwinchesterscharities.co.uk/charities/
The Mayor’s abseil and wing-walking official page: http://www.mayorofwinchesterscharities.co.uk/abseil-wingwalking/
To sponsor the Mayor and donate to her charities, visit: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/abseilandwingwalk/401152