Katy raises more than £500 for Camphill

Father says Camphill has 'pretty much saved our family'

Katy Wood, who has cerebral palsy, has completed an 11,000 foot tandem skydive to raise more than £500 for her sister’s school.

Katy (19) was so moved by what Camphill has done for her sister Beth (16), who has severe autism, that she came up with the daring fund-raising scheme. She was strapped to a professional skydiver at Fife Airport, near Glenrothes, on Saturday, August 7 for the tandem skydive.

See the video of Katy's skydive on her Just Giving page.

Explaining the reasons for wanting to raise money for Camphill, Katy says:

“Beth has lived at Camphill for over eight years now and with their help has grown into a lovely young lady, who happens to have autism and other quite severe issues. Without Camphill the future for Beth was looking very bleak indeed.”

Katy (left) with her sister Beth

Katy's views about Camphill are echoed by the girls’ father Ewan Wood.

“The fact is that Camphill has helped our family tremendously and there is nothing we could say or do that would come even close to explaining how we feel about Camphill.

“Camphill has pretty much saved our family.  Beth had very severe behavioural issues before going to Camphill and, whilst we were getting support, it seemed like fighting a losing battle. When funding for Camphill was finally approved it was a huge weight off our straining family and allowed us to grow more together.”

Katy, who works at Great Western Pre-School Nurseries, has been quite adventurous in her activities over the years. On the very first day she was able to able to walk without splints, at the age of 15, Katy did her first firewalk.

All three Children, including Ewan and Catriona’s son Chris (14), have special needs. The Wood family live in Marchburn Drive, in the Northfield area of Aberdeen.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Camphill, which takes its name from Camphill House, in the Milltimber area of Aberdeen. It was there, in June 1940, that the group of refugees, who had fled from the Nazi annexation of Austria, set up their first community to help children with special needs.

Now more than 700 people live and work in seven Camphill charity organisations in the Aberdeen area. Worldwide there are now 100 Camphill centres in 23 countries.

• Katy Wood’s charity page for her skydive is at www.justgiving.com/katy-wood

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