Last weekend three fundraisers raised almost £3,000 for HortAid, Perennial’s annual fundraising campaign. Two brave thrill-seekers, Manoj Malde and Gillian Goodson, took to the skies to skydive over Wiltshire, while Brian Hawtin walked an epic 100km in under 24 hours, all to raise money for the charity that is dedicated to helping horticulturists in times of need.

Manoj and Gillian, both garden designers, leapt out of a plane at 15,000ft from Netheravon Airfield near Salisbury, both smashing their fundraising targets with more money still coming in.

Manoj Malde of Couture Gardens Ltd explains his reasons for taking part: “I am reaching a milestone birthday this year and as a celebration I wanted to do a skydive. It is something that I have always wanted to do, but doing it for Perennial gave me a great opportunity to fulfil my ambition and raise money for an amazing charity that does incredible work.”

You can still donate to Manoj’s fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manoj-malde

Gillian Goodson commented: “Back in the depths of winter, in a euphoric moment with my dear friend Manoj, I agreed to jump out of a plane, all for a great cause. Thank you to the team from Netheravon Airfield for making dangling out of a plane for Perennial a joy.”

Donate to Gillian’s fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gilliangoodson

On the same weekend Brian Hawtin of Brian Hawtin Landscape Design set out to walk 100km from Canterbury to Crawley in under 24 hours. In fact he finished the gruelling walk in less than 23 hours, which was an amazing achievement.

Brian Hawtin commented: “Horticulture is a low paid industry, and when those who work in it are ill, have to deal with a family crisis or are injured, very often there are no savings or reserves to help them through. Perennial takes away the burden of worry and allows them to focus on what is important. Last year was difficult for me personally and if circumstances had been different, I might have needed Perennial’s help. I was fortunate, others are not.”

Donate to Brian’s fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/brian-hawtin

Chris Crooker, events manager at Perennial commented: “Huge thanks to our two skydivers for their courage to take the plunge, while raising a fantastic amount of money, as well as Brian for completing his epic challenge. All money raised makes a real difference to the lives of the people that Perennial supports. If you are inspired by these fundraisers, there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved with HortAid this year, whether you fancy skydiving, cycling, running, canoeing or tackling a muddy obstacle course.”

Perennial relies on the industry as well as the garden-loving public to help it raise vital funds to provide support for horticulturists in need. It has a range of exciting challenge events lined up as part of HortAid 2017 that participants can sign up for. Equally anyone who prefers to come up with their own plans for raising money, Perennial will help support and promote their efforts.