Vision ICT - Charity Parachute Jump
Donation protected
World Record Attempt – The most people to sky dive in 24hours for charity
Please help Vision ICT Ltd to support Pete’s Dragons by sponsoring Daniel Hillier and Lucy Naylor who are doing a Sponsored Parachute Jump on 2nd og August 2015. Vision ICT have sponsored the charity’s website since they formed six years ago which is now looking old and so we will shortly be launching a brand new fully responsive website for them. We hope that we will have your support for this charity and that you will support Dan and Lucy as they jump for such a good cause. Please £10 would be wonderful, thank you.
A personal story: the beginning of Pete’s Dragons
In January 2010 Peter Wicks tragically took his own life.
He was just 24 years old and the much loved younger brother of Diva Dragon.
Pete
On the 29th of January 2010 my perspective on life changed forever. That was the day my little brother decided that his life was too hard, difficult and painful to continue. In the first few weeks after his death I kept waiting for someone to step forward and make everything ok again. Surely this was a joke, right? Pete was going to come home with a massive hangover, right? My kind, gentle, quiet, smiley, shy, thoughtful little brother was going to be around forever, right? Wrong.
Pete was missing for five days and they were the worst days of my life. I have never felt such despair and helplessness. To have it over such a sustained period was exhausting, I watched my whole family deteriorate in front of my eyes with every passing hour. We had a wonderful support group of friends and extended family who rallied round and helped to keep us going by keeping us fed and helping in our search. But as each night drew in we knew our chances of a happy outcome were diminishing. The first day was the most frustrating - the police had all available officers searching for him but it just wasn't enough for the terrain. We often say "its a small world" but let me assure you, when your looking for a five foot six, eight stone, 24 year old in rural Cornwall, the world is seems enormous.
On the second day the cavalry arrived. The Cornwall Search and Rescue Team and the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team. Just seeing them arrive in their droves, setting up their vans and radio systems gave us the much needed reassurance that everything that could be done was being done. I must confess that at that point I couldn't care less who they were and where they had come from. One thing and one thing only was driving me and that was finding Pete. I discovered after that the teams, in total, searched a massive area surrounding where Pete had last been seen. This area included rivers, woods, train tracks, farmland and the weather at the time was horrific, deep snow, rain and hail-storms, constant freezing temperatures. However, for as long as the police needed them to help search, they came, from first light till dark. They weren't successful in finding Pete, he had concealed himself in a place none of us would have ever connected him too, to spare us, his family the trauma of finding him ourselves.
Throughout Devon and Cornwall these teams are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are all volunteers who buy their own equipment. They don't have a rota system; they all get called out to every job. They have no central funding. However, in any rescue situation, from missing people to stranded people, in the two counties they are the first point of contact for the police. They are a 999 service.
In the first days, weeks and months following Pete's death it was hard enough for the adults in our family to come to terms with and understand. When coping with any bereavement it is difficult to handle your own feelings let alone try to assist any children that may be affected. I was conscious that just as each of my children were unique personalities, they had each shared a different relationship with Pete and were each reacting in different ways.
I felt ill equipped how to explain what had happened and how to answer their questions. Thank goodness for my GP referring me to Balloons From the first point of contact until this very day I have felt that the Balloons team have placed their very strong arms around my family and guided us through the darkest days. They gave me expert and practical advice on how to deal with questions and reactive behaviour. My children received one to one counselling, the opportunity to meet other children in a similar situation to them but also some fun activities to help them understand that its ok for life to "go on". We are extremely proud to have donated over £1500 to Balloons over the last four years.
Now that time has gone on I cannot help but wonder why statistically young men of Pete’s age are the most likely to take their own lives. The suicide rate is high in the UK and at its highest in Cornwall. The Dragons feel that it is now time to put some of the money we raise into suicide prevention and that is why we are supporting the Samaritans as one of our charities.
I can't have my little brother back, my Mum can't have her son back but what we can do with your help is help ensure that the charities we support have the funding to continue their valuable work and assist other families when they need it the most.
Registered Charity Number 1160644
Please help Vision ICT Ltd to support Pete’s Dragons by sponsoring Daniel Hillier and Lucy Naylor who are doing a Sponsored Parachute Jump on 2nd og August 2015. Vision ICT have sponsored the charity’s website since they formed six years ago which is now looking old and so we will shortly be launching a brand new fully responsive website for them. We hope that we will have your support for this charity and that you will support Dan and Lucy as they jump for such a good cause. Please £10 would be wonderful, thank you.
A personal story: the beginning of Pete’s Dragons
In January 2010 Peter Wicks tragically took his own life.
He was just 24 years old and the much loved younger brother of Diva Dragon.
Pete
On the 29th of January 2010 my perspective on life changed forever. That was the day my little brother decided that his life was too hard, difficult and painful to continue. In the first few weeks after his death I kept waiting for someone to step forward and make everything ok again. Surely this was a joke, right? Pete was going to come home with a massive hangover, right? My kind, gentle, quiet, smiley, shy, thoughtful little brother was going to be around forever, right? Wrong.
Pete was missing for five days and they were the worst days of my life. I have never felt such despair and helplessness. To have it over such a sustained period was exhausting, I watched my whole family deteriorate in front of my eyes with every passing hour. We had a wonderful support group of friends and extended family who rallied round and helped to keep us going by keeping us fed and helping in our search. But as each night drew in we knew our chances of a happy outcome were diminishing. The first day was the most frustrating - the police had all available officers searching for him but it just wasn't enough for the terrain. We often say "its a small world" but let me assure you, when your looking for a five foot six, eight stone, 24 year old in rural Cornwall, the world is seems enormous.
On the second day the cavalry arrived. The Cornwall Search and Rescue Team and the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team. Just seeing them arrive in their droves, setting up their vans and radio systems gave us the much needed reassurance that everything that could be done was being done. I must confess that at that point I couldn't care less who they were and where they had come from. One thing and one thing only was driving me and that was finding Pete. I discovered after that the teams, in total, searched a massive area surrounding where Pete had last been seen. This area included rivers, woods, train tracks, farmland and the weather at the time was horrific, deep snow, rain and hail-storms, constant freezing temperatures. However, for as long as the police needed them to help search, they came, from first light till dark. They weren't successful in finding Pete, he had concealed himself in a place none of us would have ever connected him too, to spare us, his family the trauma of finding him ourselves.
Throughout Devon and Cornwall these teams are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are all volunteers who buy their own equipment. They don't have a rota system; they all get called out to every job. They have no central funding. However, in any rescue situation, from missing people to stranded people, in the two counties they are the first point of contact for the police. They are a 999 service.
In the first days, weeks and months following Pete's death it was hard enough for the adults in our family to come to terms with and understand. When coping with any bereavement it is difficult to handle your own feelings let alone try to assist any children that may be affected. I was conscious that just as each of my children were unique personalities, they had each shared a different relationship with Pete and were each reacting in different ways.
I felt ill equipped how to explain what had happened and how to answer their questions. Thank goodness for my GP referring me to Balloons From the first point of contact until this very day I have felt that the Balloons team have placed their very strong arms around my family and guided us through the darkest days. They gave me expert and practical advice on how to deal with questions and reactive behaviour. My children received one to one counselling, the opportunity to meet other children in a similar situation to them but also some fun activities to help them understand that its ok for life to "go on". We are extremely proud to have donated over £1500 to Balloons over the last four years.
Now that time has gone on I cannot help but wonder why statistically young men of Pete’s age are the most likely to take their own lives. The suicide rate is high in the UK and at its highest in Cornwall. The Dragons feel that it is now time to put some of the money we raise into suicide prevention and that is why we are supporting the Samaritans as one of our charities.
I can't have my little brother back, my Mum can't have her son back but what we can do with your help is help ensure that the charities we support have the funding to continue their valuable work and assist other families when they need it the most.
Registered Charity Number 1160644
Organizer
Daniel Hillier
Organizer
