THREE brothers have conquered their fears and leapt from the sky in aid of the hospice that looked after their late father when he was ill.

Steve, 42, Chris, 30, and Kevin Hawkins, 33, who all work at Alan Hawkins Estate Agents in Royal Wootton Bassett along with their brother Paul, took part in the charity skydive to raise money for Prospect Hospice.

The family business where they work was started by their father Alan who worked as an estate agent across Swindon and in Royal Wootton Bassett. He died late last year after a battle with cancer.

Alan spent the last month of his life at Prospect and the brothers were so grateful for the help they provided to the family that they decided to take on the sponsored daredevil challenge.

Steve said: “They bent over backwards to help us when our dad was ill, they couldn’t do enough.

“Personally for me it was a day of overcoming my fear of flying as well as heights and to be doing it all for charity and in the name of my dad was the icing on the cake, this marked a tremendous milestone and memory that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

The daring trio took part in the sky at Redlands airfield on Sunday, leaping from 10,000 ft attached to a tandem skydive partner.

Chris added: “It was a fantastic day all round and a great feeling to be able to raise and achieve our target of £2000 to help support such a great charity.

“The jump itself was incredible - stunning views, exhilarating, but most off all overwhelming and emotional.

“Something that I would highly recommend to anyone contemplating a jump, I know our father would be extremely proud of us all.”

The Hawkins brothers have already surpassed their initial fundraising target of £2,000 but they are keen to raise even more money, they have set up an online fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/Kevin-Hawkins5/ and would welcome any support.

The Parachute for Prospect event has become a popular way to fundraise for the charity, later this year – on July 3 and September 11 – they will offer a skydive from 15,000 ft for the first time, 5,000 ft higher than they have ever gone before.

Prospect Hospice events and community manager Genevieve Arney said: “We are so grateful to the brothers that they chose to pay tribute to their dad by taking part in our Parachute for Prospect event, and that they had such an enjoyable experience.

“I also want to extend my thanks to all the other people who took part in our skydive on Sunday. The comments we had from everyone was what a fantastic time they had.

“We are having an open evening for people who are interested at the hospice on Wednesday, May 18, and would love to hear from anyone who would like to come along on 01793 816161.”