On a wing and a prayer – minister takes leap of faith at 11,000ft

A daredevil minister took to the sky to help fund an Ayrshire community choir trip to the USA.

Rev Jill Clancy jumped out of a plane at 11,000 ft to raise money for the Songs for All group, which is hoping to participate in New York City Tartan Week next year.

The sponsored tandem skydive jump over the skies of Fife saw her plummet to earth at speeds up to 120mph before her parachute opened.

The jump was a dream come true for the minister and only possible after she lost seven stones in weight.

Mrs Clancy, the facilitator of the multi-faith chaplaincy team at HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, said she underwent 40 minutes of training to ensure she exited the plane properly and landed safely.

"We were told how to position ourselves, our arms and legs, and briefed on what it was going to be like and what we should expect to happen," she explained.

"I put on a suit, hat, had big goggles that could go over my glasses and everything is checked and double checked to make sure the straps are on correctly and the parachute is properly packed.

"The plane had no door and that was an experience as we climbed higher and higher until we got to 11,000 ft over the clouds.

"The views were amazing, then it was time to jump out into thin air.

"I was very excited and happy but my body started to show signs of nervousness and I started to get jittery.

"But my jump partner assured me that it was completely normaI and was just adrenalin.

"I said a prayer and we jumped out and I just tried to remember everything that I had been trained to do, then you're just free falling and it is the most amazing experience ever."

Mrs Clancy, 53, said the pair of them shot back up into the sky once the parachute was opened and she sang the Westlife song ‘Flying Without Wings' and praised God while they were drifting back to earth.

"My jump partner pointed out the direction of places such as Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes as we were going down," she recalled.

Mrs Clancy of Galston in East Ayrshire said she was the first person to jump out of the plane but a man who exited after her made it to the ground first.

"I asked my jump partner why this happened and he said it is because I am ‘lighter' than the man which gave me the opportunity to tell him about my weight loss and that was fun," she added.

"Then it was time to land and I had to pull my legs up so that he could touch the ground before me and it was a safe landing.

"A girl on the ground told me she could hear me laughing all the way down because I was so happy.

"It was just wonderful and I would do it again."

Mrs Clancy said the entire jump lasted about five minutes.

Based in Galston, Songs for All was established in 2014 and members are aged 11-to 82 years old.

Seven members are under 21 and all of them would love to go to New York next year to sing on the streets of Manhattan and in a local church.

The choir is made up of members of local towns and villages in Ayrshire, congregations from Mauchline, Tarbolton, Annbank and Galston and they wear pink tartan scarves made by Prickly Thistle, a weavers company based in Evanton, Easter Ross.

They have a broad repertoire of Scottish music for Tartan Week which ranges from "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns, "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi and "Caledonia" by Dougie MacLean.

The parachute jump was just one element of an action-packed fundraising weekend that Mrs Clancy, the choir conductor, took part in over 10-12 May.

She spent nearly 30 minutes wild swimming off the coast of Irvine with a choir member.

Mrs Clancy walked round the island of Great Cumbrae with her black Labrador Freddie and four choir members, a 10-mile loop which took five hours.

A total of 89 people donated £1,775 via an online crowdfunding page.