A DROITWICH man has raised £650 for charity after plunging off a seaside pier in the annual Worthing Birdman competition.
Edward Ling collected the cash for Hope For Justice – an organisation which campaigns to end human trafficking and slavery in the UK.
Edward told The Standard: “I knew someone who was involved with the charity and he mentioned it to me while I was thinking about what cause raise funds for.”
He added some of the situations people found themselves in because of human trafficking and slavery were shocking, which inspired him to collect as much cash as he could.
After designing his craft and travelling down to the coastal town, he went up against 60 other people and, after his launch, managed to travel 13 metres.
That beat the 48-year-old’s previous attempt last year when, unfortunately, his craft fell to pieces before it had left the pier and he was not even given clearance for take-off.
There was some more good news for Edward as well – he came second in the Leonardo Class for those who had designed their aircraft from scratch.
And, bearing in mind the person who finished first was a qualified aerospace engineer and toy designer, the result was pretty impressive.
So will Edward be trying to do even better next year?
“I have thought about entering next year and I’d love to but I’ll have to see how it goes.
“I already have some ideas for the craft that I would design if I do decide to do it.
“I’d certainly make sure that it was a bit lighter.” he added.
Visit https://www.justgiving.com/Edward-Ling/ to sponsor Edward or find out more about the cause and the competition.
Edward Ling. s
