Project K students make jumps of their lives!

Last Saturday 25 students from Project K made the leap of their lives, tandem skydiving out of a Hercules C130 thanks to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Jump Start.

The day was an amazing experience for all and thankfully the weather held out long enough for everyone to jump.

Project K would like to say thanks to everyone who contributed to the event and particular thanks goes to Jump Start founder Peter Maher and Communications Co-ordinator Tim Fastnedge for offering Project K this wonderful opportunity.

What is Jump Start?

Rather than having a party for his 50th birthday, skydiving enthusiast Pete Maher from Jump Start wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people.  So Pete invited 25 students from Project K and 25 members from CanTeen to join him in the air and experience a tandem sky dive.  Maher chose these organisations as they both deal with young people facing challenges in their lives.  "Project K and CanTeen provide the context for Jump Start to be a generator for growth and confidence in young people."  Jump Start is fully supported by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) who provided a C130 Hercules aircraft  for the event, and the skydiving community.

Jump Start is a charity event held in New Zealand which asks skydivers to help raise money to sponsor a teenager from CanTeen or Project K.  All of the sponsoring skydivers, including the Tandem Masters, Camera Flyers and the RNZAF have donated their time, resources and aircraft to support this event.

Jump consists of a skydive tandem experience for selected teeenagers (from CanTeen and Project K).The premise of Jump Start is that the experience of being alive transforms.

The key elements are:

Facing Fear: Discovering inner strength
Placing trust in others:  Finding mutual support and team identity
Elation:  Skydiving is an intense experience of being alive
Confidence:  Gained from accomplishing the goal
Acknowledgement:  Applause as they recieve a certificate of accomplishment
Belonging:  Being part of a group of first-time skydivers

If you would like more information about Jump Start please visit their website: www.jumpstart.org.nz.