THERE are few people brave enough to leap from an aeroplane.

But Caroline Edmonson, from Maryport, recently did just that - all in aid of the Penny Jones Animal Hospice.

The Hethersgill animal sanctuary is now £1,000 better off thanks to Caroline’s courageous fundraising leap, which took place at Flookborough airfield in south Cumbria.

Lyn Foord, a volunteer at the sanctuary, explained how grateful the Animal Hospice is to Caroline.

“We’re extremely grateful to Caroline. We can’t thank her enough, it’s absolutely fantastic,” Lyn said.

“It’s a lot of money for us.”

The sanctuary also held their annual open day this month. Lyn was pleased with how the event had gone.

“The open day went very well,” she said.

“We raised over £2,000.”

“That will go towards winter feed for the animals.

“Obviously it costs a lot of money to keep them going in the winter.”

Lyn explained how important donations are for keeping the sanctuary going.

“The animal sanctuary relies on donations from the public,” she said.

“There’s quite a few volunteers who try to raise money to try and keep the sanctuary going. Because it does cost an awful lot of money to take care of these animals.”

As well as taking in local animals of all shapes and sizes, the Penny Jones Animal Hospice also takes in animals in need from overseas.

Lyn spoke about the sanctuary’s most recent international additions.

“We’ve just brought some dogs over from Macedonia and Romania,” she said.

“The conditions out there are horrendous.

“The things they do to the animals in the shelters out there are absolutely appalling.

“In this country there are a lot of animal cruelty organisations that do fight for the animals. In those countries, they’re treated as vermin.”