WHEN Wendy Barfoot takes a plunge from an aeroplane on Friday, it will be a poignant moment in more ways than one.

Wendy, who is doing the charity skydive to mark her 70th birthday, has a very special reason for donating the money to her chosen organisation, Diverse Abilities Plus.

The charity was originally founded by her mum Phyllis, after Wendy’s sister Marilyn was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three.

After Phyllis was advised to send her daughter away to an institution, she placed an appeal in the Daily Echo asking for other parents of children with cerebral palsy to contact her.

The nine people that responded set up the committee of the Dorset Spastic Society, which later evolved into Dorset Scope and is now known as Diverse Abilities Plus.

In 1963 the charity opened the Centre for Spastic Children in Stafford Road, Bournemouth, and Langside School was set up in 1959 for children with cerebral palsy.

But Phyllis’s dream came true in 1974 when Edwards House, a residential centre named after Phyllis and John Edwards, opened and Marilyn was able to move in when she was 30.

That service was disbanded in 2002 for a supported living scheme, enabling residents to live in their own homes in the community.

Wendy, of Mellstock Road in Oakdale, Poole, said: “The whole idea was to build a residential centre in Bournemouth.

“We’ve done lots of fundraising and there’s been lots of hard work and lots of heartbreak.

“My mum, who is now 94, has ME, so had to stop working with the charity because of ill health, but my father was chairman for many years until he retired from the role in 1978.

“I’ve been involved in it since day one and it’s always been part and parcel of my life. Marilyn is now 63 and she has not looked back. The main thing is that she has a smile on her face.”

Wendy is already halfway towards her £2,000 target which she wants to use to buy some tables for the Barnabas Day Centre in Poole. To donate to Wendy’s fund visit justgiving.com/wendy-barfoot • To find out more about taking part in a skydive in aid of Diverse Abilities Plus call Sharon Wells on 01202 718266 or email sharon.wells@diverseabilitiesplus.org.uk