Gian Roberto, Bob to his friends, has supported Princess Alice Hospice for many years. His late wife, Shirley, worked for the Hospice and continued to volunteer after her retirement.  When Shirley became ill, it was the Hospice that cared for her and Bob has continued to support us with different types of events.

Last year, in Shirley’s memory, he took on the challenge of an abseil. Bob enjoyed it so much, that this year he decided to fundraise for the Hospice with a sky dive and a wing walk!

Bob told us: “I felt I was OK with the abseil, I enjoyed it, so this year I wanted to do something else, branch out a bit. I invited my niece’s husband, who is 50 this year, to do the sky dive with me and we had a great time. Two people on the top of a bi-plane is not permitted so I did that one alone and it was fantastic. It would be difficult to choose between the two events, but I think, for me, the Wing Walk was my favourite, you’re close enough to the ground to see farms, people, sheep etc., it was fantastic. I’d do either event again in a heartbeat.”

Bob’s plans for next year include a spitfire experience, where he hopes to fulfill his dream of a loop the loop and then maybe some paragliding. He told us his wife Shirley would never have done anything like it and wouldn’t have wanted him to do it either. As Bob recalls, ‘’Shirley liked her feet firmly on the ground!’’

Bob’s advice for anyone, of any age, wanting to do something to support the Hospice is simply to ‘Go for it, anyone can do it. If you’re thinking about it, do it, why not?’

Claire Woodward, our Community & Events Lead, said: “It’s amazing that Bob has done these events for us. He doesn’t seem to be phased by them at all which is great. As he says, there’s no age limit for the sky dive so why not? We love having the more mature fundraiser do something like this, it’s such an inspiration. Thank you, Bob, you’ve put us all to shame!”