SKY(E)’S THE LIMIT FOR RNLI FUNDRAISING JUMP

Two women from the Isle of Skye have completed a fundraising skydive to raise money for their local RNLI lifeboat station.

Eilidh Beaton and Ali Macfarlane were flown to a height of approx. 10,000 ft over St Andrews on 15 September before taking the leap out of the plane, which involved travelling at speeds of up to 120 miles an hour during the initial freefall, before deploying parachutes that carried the duo safely back to ground level.

The aptly named ‘Leap High for the RNLI’ challenge raised £3000.60 for the lifesaving charity, greatly surpassing an initial target of £1000 set by Eilidh and Ali, who presented the final cheque to volunteers during a presentation at Portree RNLI on Sunday 5 October.

Speaking after the skydive, Eilidh said:

‘It went brilliantly, and it was such an amazing experience! We’re really happy (and a bit relieved) to have completed it, but we’re even happier to have raised so much money for such an important cause!’

The duo had initially planned to take on the challenge in April, but this was postponed due to poor weather on the day of the jump.

Stuart Nicolson, Coxswain at Portree RNLI, said:

‘On behalf of the volunteers, crew and fundraisers at Portree RNLI, we would like to extend our thanks to Eilidh and Ali for supporting the charity in our lifesaving work.

‘It’s a very exciting time at the station, with a new lifeboat due to arrive in 2026, but it also highlights the vital role fundraising plays in the RNLI to help support the delivery of new equipment and infrastructure.’

The RNLI has been saving lives at sea for over two hundred years. It relies on donations and support from the public to operate the lifesaving service that it does.

There are over 5,700 volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew members at 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, with a further 4,000 volunteer shore crew members. Our volunteers are on call and ready to respond to calls for help 24 hrs a day, 365 days of the year.