WHEN staff at a Corsham hairdressers decided to raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice Care after member Kirsty Liddiard’s family suffered the loss of her grandmother to cancer, they never expected the whole community to rally round - or to find themselves exhilarated by the experience of wing walking.

On Monday the team who completed the feat last month presented the Winsley hospice with a giant cheque for £11,675.84, the proceeds of sponsorship and other events which were supported by local businesses.

Just before Christmas last year Miss Liddiard’s family learned that her gran Audrey Dodge, from Melksham, had been diagnosed with bone cancer, and she sadly died in March.

“We just wanted to do something to help others,” Kirsty explained. So she and her colleagues at Strawberry Fields Hair Design on Corsham High Street set up a poll, and asked their clients to vote for a fundraising challenge. Six weeks later a client counted the vote and wing walking came out on top.

“I was quite pleased, actually,” salon owner Chris Alford said. “I’d done a skydive before and it was hard. So this was a challenge and it turned out to be an amazing experience.”

The pair set out to collect a team - their first recruit was 72-year-old Anne Richards from Corsham, who was joined by Alison Haynes, whose husband Toby runs the family butchers further down the High Street, and Sarah Crittle from Devizes, and they chose the team name Strawberry Flyers.

“We set up the wing walk with Flying Circus, at Rencombe airfield near Cirencester,” Chris said. “Then we decided to do other things too.

“We held a barbeque, and ran a giant raffle, and the support we got from the town was just amazing.” Kirsty said. “The Haynes family who run the butchers helped hugely, John Coppin jewellers gave us a £750 donation and a beautiful pair of ear-rings for the raffle, and so many business wanted to get involved.

“Everyone we spoke to has known someone who has been treated at Dorothy House, or had a family member treated there. When that many people have been affected, it makes you realise how valuable their work is.”

Another great gift came from Corsham Print, who donated a massive cheque for the Strawberry Flyers to hand over, which has now been given to Dorothy House so other groups can use it as well.

As for the wing walk itself, “It was surreal,” Kirsty said. “You are up there for 12 minutes, and the time just goes so fast. And it was hot, which I didn’t expect - but the wind is terrific.”

“The experience of seeing birds flying below you, and cows in fields looking like toys, is amazing,” Chris added. “The view is amazing too and we were so impressed by the professionalism of the Flying Circus team.

“The whole thing has just been a huge team effort, and we’d like to thank everyone involved in it. It’s exceeded all our expectations.”