As part of our charitable giving programme for 2009, the Cordwainers have been involved in two major fundraising activities.

Daniel Emerson completed the Paris Marathon in April (left), with an impressive time of 3 hours and 40 minutes. He came 8,105th out of over 31,000 participants and raised around £5,000 for the provision of Footwear Scholarships and Bursaries.

The second fund raising activity was a skydive performed by six members of the company (below) in order to raise funds for the Royal London Society for the Blind School at Dorton House, near Sevenoaks, Kent. They succeeded in collectively raising £10,000 for the Charity.

For most of the participants, this was the first time they had performed a skydive. Our Freeman, Hester Williams, who took part in this event, gives an account of her experience below.

It was a beautiful clear blue sky and I couldn’t quite believe my luck after the bad weather had called off the last two attempts. We crammed ourselves into the tiny aircraft and as the plane took off my stomach felt like a washing machine and my mind was a shambles. At least I was strapped to a rather solid looking instructor!

Before I knew it I was hurtling towards the ground with the air whistling through my ears. I was in freefall for what felt like a lifetime and then suddenly the parachute opened with a sharp jolt. It all became very peaceful and the view of the patchwork quilt earth was amazing.