Gita Devlia, along with her nephews Shailen and Jay, have taken to the skies to raise money for the Lymphoma Fund at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The family trio took on a skydive at the Hinton Airfield in Oxfordshire and were surrounded by their friends and family as they completed their challenge.

Thanks to the generosity of their friends and family, Gita (pictured above on the right), Shailen (also pictured above) and Jay raised a fantastic £2,102 for the Lymphoma Fund at the hospital. The family had a special reason to raise money for this fund, as Gita has been treated at the hospital form lymphoma since she was diagnosed in 2012.

She said: “I live with Lymphoma and the hospital have been very good to me since I was diagnosed in 2012. I have received treatment constantly since then, as my immune system is very depleted. I wanted to give something back to the hospital.”

Speaking of her decision to take on a skydive, Gita said: “My mother (pictured above, second from left) persuaded me to do a skydive after she saw it on Facebook! Ten years ago we went on a cruise together and I enjoyed paragliding so I knew that a skydive would be for me.”

Gita asked around her family to find some willing people to join her, and her eldest nephews Shailen and Jay both volunteered to join her. The three family members all enjoyed the skydive, and Gita especially didn’t want the experience to end, she said: “It was incredible, I enjoyed the view so much and it really does feel like you are flying.”

Shailen said: “It was great to do it together as a family; we’re really pleased to have raised so much money for a great cause.”

Gita is a key member of the voluntary team who make up the Highfield Hall Community Centre in Hall Green, Birmingham. Gita enjoys spending time at the centre, saying: “I do a lot of things here, I look after the animals and do the gardening which keeps me healthy.

“I’ve been involved here for two years, I was passing by and saw the centre, went in and haven’t walked back out since! I fell in love with the place, the people and the community. They’re fabulous people and you forget who you are and your illness. I spend hours here every day and it’s just so wonderful, it’s so therapeutic.”

Gita and her family raised over £2,000 for the Lymphoma fund, and much of this came from the friends that Gita has made through the community centre.

Maz Iqbal owns the centre and has worked hard with Gita to transform the land over the past few years. He said: “We do lots of fundraising here at Highfield Hall Community Centre and we wanted to help Gita out with her fundraising. I’m so pleased that she’s raised so much money for such an important cause!”

Gita has certainly caught the fundraising bug and is already planning her next adventure, which could be wing walking!

Roisin Mooney, Fundraising Assistant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, said: “Our thanks go to Gita, Jay and Shailen for their fantastic fundraising efforts! The money that they have raised will help us to provide patient comforts and fund research that could help to make a huge difference for Lymphoma patients like Gita.”

Has Gita inspired you to get involved with a fundraising event? Check out our upcoming events here.

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