Nursery manager pushes herself over the edge for children's air ambulance

Charlotte Lucas, manager of Lime Grove Day Nursery, in Park Road, abseiled down the National Lift Tower, which is a research and development test site, to help raise £3,000 for the Children’s Air Ambulance charity.

The charity, which relies entirely on donations and has been adopted by the nursery for a year­-long fund­raising drive, has just one helicopter covering the entire country and currently can only reach one in every three children and babies who need their help.

Charlotte said: “There are no limits on what we will do when it comes to raising money for this charity which provides a rapid and life­saving response to child and baby trauma.

“We work with children every day and can’t bear to think about them being denied this specialist help in an emergency.”

Charlotte was part of a seven-woman team from day nurseries in the award-­winning Childbase Partnership group.

Cheered on by her husband, sister, and brother-in-law, Charlotte described her descent down the Grade II-listed tower as “exhilarating”, and thanked nursery colleagues and parents for their generous support.

She is hoping to follow this challenge with a skydive but is currently preparing for a more down-­to­-earth fundraiser in the form of a Summer Fete at the nursery on July 2 in aid of the charity.