SOMERSET’S Chris Copeland might be 81, but he is hardly your normal pensioner. A keen yachtsman, he sails regularly and ten years ago decided to start raising money for the RNLI by skydiving.

Last weekend Chris exited a plane at 15,000 feet over Skydive Buzz.

This not only completed his planned target of 100 freefall jumps but, thanks to sponsorships and donations, he also reached his aim of collecting £100,000 for the lifeguard charity.

Raising such an enormous sum has taken Chris 10 years since he first came up with the idea of using skydiving to raise money.

Along with deciding to jump himself, he also encouraged others to jump too for charity.

Chris, 81, first started skydiving in 1964. (Image: Contributed)

“I called the fundraising initiative the Three Fall Challenge,” explained Chris.

“Right at the beginning I had set the target of £100,000, although at the time I thought it rather ambitious.

“However, it has worked and I am grateful to everyone, the 54 tandem jumpers who all helped me raise this sum and also to Skydive Buzz, I could not have done it without their dedicated team of instructors and staff.”

Jason Farant, the chief instructor at Skydive Buzz, said when Chris first approached him with the idea, he was impressed with his enthusiasm.

When Chris then produced his parachuting logbook, showing that Chris had already done 716 jumps when he was much younger and had been a member of the British Army’s 7th Parachute Regiment, the whole idea made sense.

“Chris had actually done his first jump in 1964,” said Jason.

“So obviously things have changed considerably since then, but with that background and Chris’s determination, we were more than happy to support him.  He quickly adapted to modern skydiving, and we are now all delighted he had managed to raise quite so much money.”

When asked if Chris was planning on slowing down with skydiving any time soon, he replied with two words.

No way”

“I might be older than most other jumpers by around 50 years or so, but I still love it.

“I have really appreciated all the encouragement and support I have had from Skydive Buzz…maybe I can continue to raise funds for the RNLI in the years to come!”

Dave Nicoll, RNLI fundraising and partnerships Lead for the south west, said: “Chris is an inspiration, what he has achieved over the last 10 years to raise a staggering amount of money for the RNLI is incredible.

“He does this on top of being a very active Chair of the Sherborne branch of the RNLI. The money raised will go towards training and equipping our volunteer lifeboat crew.

“As a charity, the RNLI rely on donations and fundraising ideas like this, Chris’s achievements have encouraged so many more to get involved.”