Helen Burns (22), whose friends, Kayleigh Grant and Pauline Ogilvie, work as mental health nurses, wanted to do something different to raise money for the Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH) and decided that rather than do a sponsored walk, they could take on a sponsored pole climb!

Their aim is to raise £1500 ahead of a sky dive for the charity on 1st August and the girls are determined to make a difference.

“The skydive is in just a couple of weeks so it’s a bit scary but we’re all really excited,” said Helen. “We’re all so excited to complete it yet a little nervous at the same time because it’s not your average fund-raising activity!

“It is our team total to raise a massive £1500 between the three of us prior to our skydive event on 1st August. It takes place at the St Andrews airfield in Glenrothes and it will be all SAMH volunteers jumping that day. We chose SAMH as we believe mental health is an illness that is not recognised or respected on the same level as physical illnesses. It is therefore our mission to raise awareness of mental health and to reduce the stigma that is attached to it. Kayleigh and Pauline, my team-mates, are also mental health nurses at the Murray Royal Hospital in Perth so are not strangers to dealing with these problems.” In advance of the jump, the girls got together at Polefit Starlet Dunfermline on Saturday, with students buying sponsor forms and trying to raise as much money as possible – meaning as many climbs as possible!

“We’re really good friends with the manager and owner, Kira, so when we started talking about it she came up with the suggestion of a sponsored pole climb,” said Helen. “It’s something different, it’s never been done before.

“It went extremely well and much better than expected. We are all absolutely ecstatic and completely overwhelmed by the amount of support we’ve received. Collectively between all the sponsor forms, donations on the day, fund-raising games and the cakes we sold, we raised a staggering £1250. So this meant on the day we had to climb 1250 times – we completed this in two hours between around 30 people.

“We were all so supportive of each other and really encouraged everyone to keep going so it was a team effort between us all. It was not an easy activity to undertake as climbing all the way to the ceiling so many times is really physically demanding. The studio managers were absolutely fantastic – they organised everything perfectly and everyone had a great time. I can’t speak highly enough of the studio and all the amazing women that make it what it is. Kayleigh and I are so proud to be a part of it.” The girls have also been working closely with the Kingsgate Shopping Centre, which is also supporting SAMH this year.

“The Kingsgate allowed us access to the centre on 4th July where we collected funds and we managed to raise £137 that day,” said Helen. “Kayleigh and Pauline also hosted a charity raffle at the Murray Royal Hospital on 7th July which raised £260.” To donate to their fund-raising campaign, visit www.justgiving.com/teams/superheroskydive