Popular Falmouth teacher Nicky Sutton has so far raised around £1,000 for charity after literally taking the plunge by launching herself from a plane at 10,000 feet and parachuting to the ground.

Describing the tandem skydive as "petrifying" and "exhilarating" Nicky, the MADD (music, arts, dance and drama) teacher at St Francis School has said she would do it all again for the right cause.

"It was a blooming gorgeous day, I couldn't have asked for better, you could see for miles," she said. "It was completely petrifying going up in the plane because the doors are open. I was sitting there, strapped to this guy, thinking I was going to fall out.

"We then got to 10,000 feet and I'm thinking I'm going to die, it was horrible. He then tipped me out and we were free falling which was a bit scary. The parachute then came back up and we were flung up into the air but once we were floating down that was really cool and exhilarating."

After drifting down to the ground, Nicky landed safely at Perranporth Airfield and has surprised herself by thinking she would put herself through it all over again - if it was to raise money for a good cause.

She will be donating the money raised this time to two charities very close to her heart - Stanley's Friends and Penhaligon's Friends, who organised the skydive as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations.

Nicky has been involved with Penhaligon's Friends since she lost both her parents and as she now has responsibility for children's well-being at school, she works closely with bereaved youngsters. She is also chair of Stanley's Friends which raises money to support the family of little Stanley, son of fellow teacher Ross Barnes, who has the terminal and debilitating disease, Sanfilippo type A.

It is almost a year since Stanley's Friends was formed and the group is planning an anniversary fundraiser, but needs more volunteers to help. The committee is getting together at the Greenbank Hotel at 7pm tonight, Wednesday, and would be happy to see anyone who would like to get involved. For more information go to Stanley's Friends' Facebook page.