School teacher’s mission to help wildlife charity

Emily Kay

A Norden school teacher is getting ready to swap her work clothes for a jump suit and a parachute as she prepares to take a big leap – in aid of charity.

Emily Kay, 24, teaches at Norden Community Primary School and in April she will complete a charity skydive and raise money for the Born Free foundation and it’s Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi.

Ms Kay, who teaches year three at the school, decided to raise money for Born Free after watching a programme on the television about wildlife.

Born Free believes in keeping wildlife in the wild, as does Ms Kay. Within just one month of deciding to do a skydive Ms Kay has almost completed her target of £500.

On doing more research she learnt more about the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre and in May she will leave to volunteer at the centre for 14 weeks.

“It’s just completely snowballed,” she said.

Ms Kay finishes her maternity cover at Norden Community Primary School this summer and said she knew she may never have a few months like this free again.

“All this has happened in the past week,” said Ms Kay “Everything has just fallen into place.”

Ms Kay set a target of £500 and through online fundraising and an animal fancy dress day at school she was well on her way. She now hopes to give the £500 directly to born free and raise a further £1,000 for the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.

Speaking about the fundraising, Ms Kay, said: “It is just a fantastic feeling. Now I am thinking about different ways I can raise money.”

Ms Kay says the idea of doing a skydive came following a conversation with a friend, she said: “I just thought that would be a pretty amazing thing to do then I realised I could do a sponsored skydive so I thought I would raise money at the same time.”

Ms Kay’s parachute jump is on the day of her 25th birthday on 3 April, she said: “What better way to celebrate my 25th birthday than to jump out of a plane and for a good cause.”

Ms Kay said she can’t wait to go on her travels in May but she never thought when she decided to raise money she would end up going seeing what work Born Free actually does.

She concluded: “I absolutely can’t wait.”

Ms Kay is hoping to raise £1,500 in total to split between Born Free and Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.

To sponsor Ms Kay visit: www.justgiving.com/emilyak