Hello!
Thank you for visiting my website! At times I wondered what it would be like to jump out of an airplane and float to the earth, but never really gave it much thought and certainly didn’t ever think I would do it. But last August my husband, Alastair, and I went to a little airfield in Salisbury, England, and to my surprise, there was a skydiving company located there! As I watched people participating in jumps and seeing their excitement and joy after doing one, I decided to check it out further. So after finding out as much as I could about the skydiving company, talking to their employees and getting all the information I could possibly find about skydiving, I signed up for a tandem jump........and that’s how it all began!
Alastair suggested that I do an anniversary jump every summer when we go back to England to visit our family and friends, so I thought what a wonderful thing it would be for me to “jump” for a cause. About eight years ago I was diagnosed with RA and Sjogren’s disease. I have a fantastic Rheumatologist and am very fortunate to have a loving and supportive family and friends, but I know that there are many people suffering from this awful disease who do not have this great support that I have. Now, sadly, my daughter has also been diagnosed with both these diseases as well, so it has really hit home. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to do a charity "jump" for an RA organization both here in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom. After much research, I found the NRAS (National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society) in the UK and the RPF (Rheumatoid Patient Foundation) in the US and knew immediately after contact with them that these were the organizations I wanted to support. Both non profits are fantastic and are doing such great things to help people with RA and are promoting awareness, support, advocacy, and ultimately hope to one day find a cure.
Doing this skydive will not only be an accomplishment for me personally, but also something that I hope will benefit NRAS and RPF to help further the hard efforts both these organizations are doing for a cause that is so close to my heart. I hope to inspire and encourage those who have RA, both young and old, and to give a positive message to those that are feeling weighed down and depressed by their condition. Knowing that maybe what I'm doing will give someone who suffers from RA hope and determination to keep on going no matter what is a great reward to me.
My skydive will be on Thursday, August 3, 2017, at Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury, England, with the GoSkydive company. This skydive is completely self-funded so all monies collected will go directly to the non profits. Please help me support the efforts of NRAS and RPF by giving your donation and sharing my story and skydive fundraiser to others. Thank you!......Anja Gilmour
If you would like to know more about me and see live footage from last year's skydive, please go to an RPF blog post by clicking the button below.