Press release -
Skies the limit for fearless diabetes fundraiser
Former U.S. Air Force Policeman Lynwood Newman who has been living with Type 2 diabetes for 31 years has completed his latest fundraiser for Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation (DRWF).
He was one of 14 people who jumped in April and has personally raised £1700 so far adding to the total group amount of £8694.15
Wanting to mark his 65th birthday by doing something special he signed up for the tandem parachute jump with GOSkydive in Salisbury. He challenged himself with the task of raising as much money as possible for the charity which is very close to his heart. Lynwood has volunteered for DRWF for many years.
He explained:
“It was a great way to celebrate my belated 65th Birthday which was in December 2014.It has been a pleasure stepping out of my comfort zone and helping to raise so much money for a worthy cause.I love working with the DRWF team when I visit their office in Hayling Island to give a hand, and at their Diabetes Wellness Events.The jump was a truly great experience.”
His phenomenal fundraising success came courtesy of the 162 people who sponsored him. He is an extremely visible member of his local community and people spotted him on his daily paper round wearing a ‘sponsor me’ tabard. He also received support from the members of his Zumba-Gold class, and from the many people in and around Weymouth including R & C Joy Convenience Store, Weymouth Squash & Fitness Centre, Dan Gina and South Coast Alarms.His local ‘campaign manager’ was hairdresser Zoe Hoskins:
“Lynwood is such a fantastic character when I heard he had signed up to do a skydive I just wanted to help him as much as possible so we have used the salon as the campaign headquarters and have been spreading the word about the skydive. Local people have been very generous and we are delighted with the total achieved.” She said.
He took a spur of the moment decision to increase his jump from 10,000 to 15,000 feet when signing in for the skydive on the day of the jump. He has a film of his experience and although he would love to do it all again in 2016, he has promised his wife Lida not to put her through the worry again. He has said he will act as ground support instead.
He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Solent as well as a public speaker on diabetes and his love of history. Lynwood is an associate member of both the Royal Naval and Royal Air Forces Associations. Plus he is a member of the DRWF editorial board for their Diabetes Wellness News.
Claire Levy the Community Fundraiser at DRWF praised Lynwood for all his efforts with the charity:
“Lynwood is an amazing person, he is works so hard to support the charity in so many ways. His total of £1700 is truly fantastic and we are privileged to have him as one of our volunteers. When he upped his jump to 15000 feet we were stunned.”
The charity has booked their 2016 skydive with GoSkydive in Salisbury for Saturday 9th April. There is more info on the website http://drwf.org.uk/event_uk/goskydive-drwf-2016-tandem-skydiving-fundraiser#.VW8SiEauqH8
Topics
- Diseases
The Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation (DRWF) is a registered charity, established in 1998 to raise public awareness to type 1 and type 2 diabetes, associated complications, treatment, avoidance and relief and to provide support to people living with diabetes. Whilst funding diabetes research we aim to ensure that people are ‘staying well until a cure is found...’
In the past 15 years the UK has seen the number of people diagnosed with diabetes almost double, and this continues to rise rapidly. More than one in 20 of the population now lives with diabetes and it is estimated that there will be 5 million people affected by 2025.
While DRWF is an independent, autonomous charity, working for the benefit of people within the United Kingdom, internationally, Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation exists also as a non-profit organisation in the United States of America, in France under the name "Association pour la recherche sur le diabète", and also Sweden (DWNS). We share the same goals and don’t lose sight of the bigger picture, enabling us to take advantage of our international dimension for the benefit of the charity and our beneficiaries.
Charity registration no – 1070607
