A brave group of seven have raised £15,000 to be split between three local schools by completing a charity skydive.

Marty Conwell, Frank and Philip Greene, Richard Schwartz, Patrick McCaffrey, John Lavery and Eamon Lynam put any fears of heights out the window as they jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet on Friday, October 4.

The seven skydivers.The seven skydivers. (Image: The Impartial Reporter)

The jump was all in aid of Brookeborough Primary School; St. Mary's Primary School, Brookeborough and Brookeborough and District Community Playgroup.

Richard Schwartz described the experience as "pure exhilaration".

"The skydive was a thrilling experience for us all," he said. 

"We all experienced an adrenaline surge as we did the free fall for one minute dropping 7,000 feet before the parachute opened.

"It was followed by a serene descent, offering breathtaking views over Scotland and Northern Ireland coastline, quite simply a pure exhilaration."

So, were there any pre-jump nerves?

"We all had a mix of butterflies and anxiety mixed with an electric excitement.

"We weren’t too bad when on the ground, but as we climbed to 15,000 feet and sat on the edge of the plane door all our hearts were racing and [our] thoughts swirled with a mix of fear and exhilaration!"

Some of the skydivers coming into land.Some of the skydivers coming into land. (Image: Impartial Reporter)

And it was all worth it, however, as the jump raised £15,000 in total to split between the three schools.

"The skydive was the idea of one of the jumpers, Patrick McCaffrey. He then enlisted another six volunteers and with [the] schools struggling with funding we decided any funds we were able to raise would be split."

Richard said it is now the plan for the fundraising to become an annual event: "We plan to make this a yearly event, so [we are] thinking of some ideas all seven of us can do next year as we all had a great day out and the schools are delighted with the amounts we raised for them."