Stone King PA skydives in aid of Leeds foodbank

From Left to Right: Eleanor Harwin, Holly Risk and Brooke Harwin

Holly Risk, who works in our Leeds office, took to the sky to raise money for the Leeds South and East Foodbank.

Her efforts have seen over £450 raised towards its operational costs and is the third time that the charity, which runs ten foodbanks in Leeds, has been supported by some of Stone King’s people.

“Volunteering at the foodbank last year with a team from Stone King really highlighted the scale of need for support from charities such as these, and how this has been all the more heightened by the cost-of-living crisis,” said Holly.

“But what it also displayed was the difference even the smallest of efforts can make to such charities.”

While many of us wouldn’t think of jumping out of a plane at 12,000 metres (13,000ft) as a small effort, Holly said she didn’t have time to feel daunted by the daredevil act.

“The skydive date had been moved twice prior to me finally jumping and was almost cancelled again on the day due to pilot sickness and soft ground from the rain,” she added.

“It ended up working out really nicely as, by the time the stand-in pilot arrived, the sky had cleared and it was very sunny, which made the experience so much more exciting. 

“I didn’t have time to get too nervous as we climbed to altitude and very soon I was outside the plane and falling rather quickly. 

“It is still not a feeling I can describe, but it was amazing.”

The Peterborough skydive was something of a family affair with Holly joined by her mum Eleanor Harwin and sister Brooke Harwin.

“When we landed I was just overwhelmingly glad we’d finally managed to do it and super proud of my mum, my sister and I, who had raised money for some extremely worthwhile charities (my mum: Andy's Man Club, a charity which supports men’s mental health; and my sister Cancer Research UK).”

Holly has previously volunteered at the Leeds South and East Foodbank as have Ryan Butterworth, Ammaarah Chothia, Sam Dowgill, Holly Joyce, Sarah Keeley, Tom Morrison, Tom Vasov, Craig Vincent and Penny Walters. 

Penny, Principal HR Consultant at Stone King, has spearheaded the link between the foodbank and Stone King.

The volunteers were able to make good use of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) time to volunteer, with Stone King pleased to give all of its people one day a year to spend on CSR.

To contribute to funds for Leeds South and East Foodbank visit Holly’s fundraising page here.

More on the work of Leeds South and East Foodbank, supported by the Trussel Trust, here.

Stone King specialises in the sectors of Business & Social Enterprise, Charity, Education, Faith and Private Client with offices in Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London and Manchester.