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Abseiling supergran has a taste of life on the edge

Rhiannon McDowall
28/11/2007

SUPERGRAN took the limelight from Santa last week when she stepped off the edge of Manchester’s 160 feet high Renaissance Hotel in aid of The Together Trust.

Dressed in a red jacket complete with flashing headband, grandmother Sheila Hallas of Oakley Avenue, Fulshaw Park, faced her fears and abseiled down the 14 storey building on Sunday, November 18.

She said: "It was very scary, we were so high up. There are so many huge cranes around Manchester at the moment and even they seemed small from where I was standing.

"I found it hardest going backwards off the edge. My instructor kept saying ‘keep going back, keep going back’ and it terrified me because there was no where else to go."

Grandsons Max, Theo and Hugh were also present to see their supergran take on the vertical challenge and scale the enormous hotel.

Sheila said: "The hardest thing was the weight of the rope. And the wind was blowing me from side to side which made it quite hard work."

Altogether 60 daredevils joined Sheila to take the plunge, 30 in aid of the trust and 30 on behalf of the Royal School for the Deaf.

The Together Trust is one of the oldest charities in the UK, operating since 1870, and a charity Sheila was keen to represent.

Previously named the Boys and Girls Welfare Society, the charity provides services for children, young people and young adults who are experiencing physical, emotional, behavioural or social difficulties.

So far Sheila has raised a fantastic £738 from donations.

She said: "I would like to thank everyone who supported me and donated, I am really proud to have done it."

But Sheila’s fundraising efforts don’t end there.

She is now returning to her duties as organiser for the Combined Charities Christmas Shops (CCCS) which runs until December 8.

Gifts and cards can be bought in aid of the CCCS during opening hours at Wilmslow library until Saturday, December 8, with 100 per cent of profits going to charity.