'Why I have decided to wing walk for the nursing home looking after my mum who has terminal cancer'

Daring Kate Shillingford is preparing to be strapped to a biplane during flight and 'wing walk' to raise money for the nursing home that is caring for her mother.
Kate Shillingford, 40, from Billingshurst, will be attempting a wing walk as a thank you to Petworth Cottage Nursing Home, which has helped her family through a difficult time.Kate Shillingford, 40, from Billingshurst, will be attempting a wing walk as a thank you to Petworth Cottage Nursing Home, which has helped her family through a difficult time.
Kate Shillingford, 40, from Billingshurst, will be attempting a wing walk as a thank you to Petworth Cottage Nursing Home, which has helped her family through a difficult time.

Kate, 40, from Billingshurst, will be attempting a ‘wing walk’ on Saturday, September 28, ‘as a thank you’ to Petworth Cottage Nursing Home, which has helped her family through a difficult time.

Kate said: “My mum has got terminal cancer. It is secondary cancer in the spine.

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"I wanted to do something positive so I set up a fundraiser page to show how much we appreciate the support.

"The staff never say no to anything and they are always there. They have got so much time and are just so considerate. They are so friendly. It was a big shock when mum was diagnosed but the transition has been seamless. It is a big home but is still personable.

"I am very close to my brother. We have been able to chat to the staff and they have answered all our questions. It is great to know she is being looked after very well. It is really helping."

Kate said her mum Carol, 72, a church warden in Bury, is ‘widely known’, having been regularly involved in community events.

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She added: “My mum has been involved in an enormous number of things.

"I am so pleased that she would be able to get the care close to home. She is in a wheelchair with a spine fracture. She has been there since the end of July this year [and] it has been a massive change but she is keeping very upbeat, even though they are now not doing active treatment.”

On the fundraiser she is set to do in two weeks time, Kate said: “It doesn’t take much for me to show support and thank them.

"I wanted to do something a bit different, something out of the ordinary. I will be in the air for about 10/15 minutes. I don't know much about it but it is weather dependent. I have to call the day before to confirm everything.

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"I am nervously, excited. I don’t have many weeks left and I just want to do it. It will be on an airfield on the border of Berkshire or Oxfordshire, as you can only do it on certain airfields.

“The target was £900 which I have already surpassed. It is over £1,000 now and I will keep it going.

"I don't know what they will use the funds for yet but I will be happy for them to put it towards anything which benefits them."

A spokesperson for the nursing home said it is an ‘excellent fundraiser’.

She added: “We all thank Kate and wish her the very best of luck.”