Barratt Homes employee jumps out of plane to raise money for Bristol Children's Hospital

Published by

Peter Davison

Phill Chilcott on his skydive

An employee at Barratt Homes has jumped out of a plane flying over Wiltshire to raise funds for Bristol Children's Hospital.

Phill Chilcott, who works for the housebuilder across the Bristol and Gloucestershire region, decided to help the hospital's The Grand Appeal after it cared for his 13-year-old daughter Daisy, who has a rare genetic condition called Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome, which affects only 40 people in the UK.

The condition impacts the signals from nerve cells to muscles causing weakness and muscle fatigue.

Sustainable clothing brand launches kidswear clothing range for The Grand Appeal

After she was born Daisy was quickly transferred to intensive care because of problems with her lungs and was in and out of Bristol Children's Hospital for many years.

"Daisy is a stunning, strong-willed 13-year-old who has been brave and brilliant even while enduring the scars of successive treatments and a life where she might be walking one minute and then, as if she has had a stroke, have no strength or co-ordination the next and be in a wheelchair," said Phil.

"We also have a real appreciation of how precious life is, and a desire to embrace it to the max."

This summer he took part in a skydive over Wiltshire, where the money he raised was match-funded by his employer, bringing the total handed over to the charity to £2,259.

"We’re so proud to have people like Phil on our team and were all in awe of the jump he did," says Rob Hart, managing director of Barratt Homes Bristol."

Stacey Vincent from The Grand Appeal said: "A skydive is honestly one of the most terrifying challenges to take on. To see Phil overcome his fear and do that for us and for Daisy - and to see his work and family rally around his efforts - was really powerful.

"They went through the scariest time when Daisy was here, facing such uncertainty, but they have inspired us. Not only by raising this money but by spreading the word - putting The Grand Appeal on people's radars.

Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county

"Every single penny that comes in as a result of people talking about the charity adds up to make such a difference."

Phil added: "I will never forget those years in the hospital, and the way the staff were our constant support and became like family.

"And now this small thing I've done lets them know what that meant, and I hope lets other families know we understand what they are going through."

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.