VIDEO: Eastbourne grandmother wing walks for St Wilfrid's

Shirley Venn, of Stone Cross, made £1,000 for the charity by wing walking to the dizzying heights of 500ft.

The fearless 60-year-old said, “It’s so exciting, the wind pins you back, I loved it.

“Your stomach goes a bit when you take off – it’s like being in a plane normally but with the wind.

“I could see for miles. It was by the Dartford Tunnel, and I could see the Shard.

“I’d do it again, it was amazing.”

Her husband Ronald was watching the whole thing from the ground. He said, “She climbed on the plane, and was waving away as the plane started to move, she loved it.

“She’s very brave, she was up in the air for 20 minutes. She came by and was waving away.”

Shirly said one of the reasons why she wanted to raise money to help St Wilfrid’s was that her daughter’s father in law passed away this year, and the charity was really helpful to the family.

Shirley wrote on her Justgiving Page, “Over the years I have known a few people who have been cared for by the wonderful staff at St Wilfrid’s Hospice.

“The Hospice continues to help the families grieving to come to terms with their loss and their support is invaluable. Please give anything you can to this very worthy cause. All of us will never know when we may need these amazing people.”

A spokesperson from St Wilfrid’s Community fundraising team said, “We are incredibly grateful to Shirley for taking on such a brave challenge to help raise money for St Wilfrid’s Hospice.

“We are always looking for people to fundraise for us and this is a very unique way of doing it.”

St Wilfrid’s Hospice, in Broadwater Way, cares for people with progressive and advanced diseases and supports people – and their families – in the last days of their lives.

If you would like to donate to Shirley’s wing walk, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shirley-venn

And for more information about St Wilfrid’s Hospice, visit www.stwhospice.org