A MEMBER of Four Marks and Medstead Rotary has just completed an abseil down one of the tallest structures in Hampshire – all in aid of charity.

Linda Osborn, who lives in Four Marks, told a club meeting about the day she descended the 115-metre high Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and, to make the experience even more frightening, did so on a blustery day, when the tower can move by up to 15 centimetres because of the wind.

Daredevil Linda, who is a retired headteacher, had been challenged to attempt the descent by friends, and she was invited to join a group abseiling down the tower to support the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

The ride by lift to the highest platform on the tower took less than a minute, but Linda’s descent took more than half an hour, partly because the winds were buffeting her across the face of the tower.

Linda said: “It was a terrifying time, and I did not dare look down while I was descending, but I feel the experience was well worthwhile. It was an experience I will never forget.”

Her efforts were sponsored by family and friends, and raised £600 for the Hearing Dogs charity. This charity provides dogs trained to react to doorbells, telephones, alarms and other sounds to assist deaf people lead independent lives.

It takes more than a year to train an eight-week-old puppy to become a hearing dog at a cost of £25,000 and currently there are more than 900 hearing dogs at work in the UK.

Linda decided to support the charity after meeting a deaf person who had a hearing dog, and seeing what a difference the dog could make to the owner’s quality of life.

She added: “I couldn’t back out of the descent at the last minute. I kept on thinking of the amount of money I’d raised from sponsors, and how I would have been letting them and the charity down if I didn’t do it.”

Much of the money Linda raised was through the fundraising website justgiving.com and her page is still open for more online donations.