A Whitehaven man has taken on an amazing challenge this week to help to raise money for some important causes. 

Michael Barwise, 70, who works as a caretaker at the Howgill Centre, completed a sky dive to fundraise for charity. 

We spoke to Michael to hear more about his experience and what inspired him to take on this thrilling challenge. 

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Mr Barwise said: "I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie and I'd told my kids that all my life I'd wanted to do a sky dive, it was just one of these things that was on my bucket list. 

"My son and his wife decided to buy me a sky diving trip for my 70th birthday. Because of the family history we have of cancer I wouldn't just do it for the fun of it I wanted to raise some money. 

"I've recently lost a relative to cancer and now my brother Tom is having a battle with bowel cancer. I've used this as motivation to help some charities and so I'm supporting Macmillan Cancer Support, Great North Air Ambulance and Howgill Family Centre."

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My family and I had recently paid money for a seat to be placed on St Bees beach front.

The got permission from the parish council to put the seat there and decided to inaugurate the seat on May, 11 which is the anniversary of Michael's brother Tony's passing. 

Michael decided to set up the date for the sky dive on May 12, which they were able to do with the help of Black Knights parachute centre. 

Michael worked with GoFundMe to set up a page allowing people to fundraise. He set a target of £600 but has been able to far surpass this. When we spoke to Michael he had managed to raise around £1200 for his causes. 

Michael explained that the experience of a sky dive was absolutely amazing and that he'd happily do it again tomorrow. 

If you would like to donate to Michael's causes please visit the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tk8rs-charity-sky-dive?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer-andr

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