Councillor Andy Forrest completes skydive for ELCAP

Andy Forrest, 64, East Lothian’s Depute Provost, enjoyed his first jump from a plane so much he is hoping to do it all over again.

He said: “I want to relive the whole experience.”

His daring feat, which was postponed for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has so far raised around £1,000 for Prestonpans-based ELCAP.

An East Lothian resident for 38 years, he has been a Musselburgh councillor for 17 years and is also a board member at Capital Credit Union, serving as secretary.

He decided to raise funds for ELCAP after seeing first-hand “the amazing work” it does to support the community.

Capital Credit Union has been celebrating its 30th anniversary with ‘30 Acts of Kindness’.

Councillor Andy Forrest gets ready to jump out of the plane

Mr Forrest’s recent skydive, which he undertook with a qualified instructor at Skydive St Andrews, a Scottish parachute centre based at Fife Airport, Glenrothes, was the final act.

He said: “I was the the first of three to jump. The team at Skydive St Andrews are very professional and give you confidence. I was excited to do the skydive as I had waited six months. I had no fear or nerves.

“It was absolutely brilliant and I was free falling at around 140mph. There was a lot of sunshine and the clouds came over but there was no rain.

“When you free fall through the clouds you are hit by hail and there was snow on the front of my jumpsuit. I could feel the hail hitting me.”

He added: “I really enjoyed it and would do it again. I would be relaxed as I would know what’s going to happen.”

ELCAP is a Scottish charity which offers care and support to individuals with a learning disability, and some level of difficulty with communication.

Each week, the organisation provides more than 10,000 hours of care and support to more than 200 individuals aged from four to 92, working in 30 towns and villages in East Lothian and Midlothian.

Councillor Andy Forrest, right, gives the skydive the thumbs up and is ready to do it all again

With input from speech and language therapists, its ‘Our Voice, Our Choice’ project ensures its clients have access to approaches and tools which enable them to communicate.

The charity’s mission is to become the recognised gold standard in social care.

It complements Capital Credit Union’s ethos of People Helping People and all funds raised by Capital Credit Union will be used to support ELCAP’s ‘Our Voice, Our Choice’ project.

Paul White, CEO of ELCAP, said: “Superb effort, Andy! We really appreciate your personal support for ELCAP, as well as the backing of our friends at Capital Credit Union. The funds you have raised will be put to very good use.”

You can donate via JustGiving at bit.ly/2HWFRdK