A FORMER Yelverton woman will be facing her fear of heights to throw herself out of an aeroplane in a bid to raise money for Parkinson's UK.

Thirty two-year-old Sarah Tallack has a phobia of heights, but is currently building up her courage to do a charity skydive in May.

Sarah, who now lives in Plymouth, recently learned her mother Linda, who still lives in Yelverton, has Parkinson's Disease and wanted to do something to help.

She said: 'My mum won't let me help her but I like helping people so I thought I would do a skydive for the charity.

'It is something I have always wanted to do.

'I'm absolutely petrified — I have a fear of getting down from heights, but it will be a good challenge.

'I'm scared but it is nowhere near as scary as what my mum is going through.

'I'm really scared for what this means for her, and us, in the future, but for now Mum still does a lot of local charity work, pilates and goes for walks on Dartmoor.'

Sarah said her mother worked at the Molly Owen Centre in Tavistock for ten years, was heavily involved in the support group Yelvercare and still organises its monthly luncheon club.

Sarah will be doing her skydive on May 16 near Stonehenge with the support of her mother, father Tony and husband Dave.

She said: 'You only get 15 minutes of training on the day but it will be a beautiful view going down if it all goes wrong!'

Sarah has already exceeded her fundraising target of £500, but is keen to continue to raise as much as she can for Parkinson's UK, to fund research and nurses for people with the disease.

She will be holding a raffle the day before the skydive (Friday, May 15), with lots of prizes donated from local businesses, including a pashmina from Brigid Foley, jewellery, a cushion and picture from local artist Meg Beable, a hair cut from the Cutting Company and tickets from the Plymouth Pavilions and the Theatre Royal as well as many other prizes.

For raffle tickets, email Sarah at [email protected]">[email protected] and she will be able to send her Paypal details for purchase and will send or email the tickets out.