VICTA young adults (18+) and London Marathon Fundraisers Taking Flight!

This February saw brave VICTA young adults take flight at iFly, an indoor skydiving experience in Milton Keynes! They flew alongside brilliant VICTA senior volunteer Danny Heppenstall and two amazing London Marathon runners, Debbie Monnington and Dr Steve Ward-Smith.

What a way to beat the February winter blues — everyone loved defying gravity! The group experienced wind speeds of up to 165mph in the very wind tunnel that introduced indoor skydiving to Britain.

Impact of this activity

“I just wanted to say that we really enjoyed the iFly activity, so thank you for giving us this opportunity. It was such a cool experience feeling weightless and just floating there. We also thought having coffee and cake afterwards was a great idea, as it allowed us to socialise with other VI people, which we don’t often get the opportunity to do. We had a great time.”
VI young adult

“Thank you for the opportunity you have provided my daughter — I have never seen her this happy.”
Parent of a VI young adult

For one young adult, this was their very first VICTA activity. Not knowing anyone beforehand, they left having swapped phone numbers so they could stay in touch with someone who shared their enthusiasm for music — a wonderful outcome of the day.

Thank you to our volunteers and fundraisers

A huge thank you to our volunteers and London Marathon fundraisers who joined us.

Senior volunteer Danny applied after saying, “All I could think of was the Wicked song when I saw this opportunity.” He was a huge help on the day, guiding participants and keeping spirits high.

Debbie was a natural in the tunnel and was even invited by an iFLY instructor to join the frequent flyers club! She ran her second London Marathon in 2025 with #TeamVICTA as part of Team Lions Brew, which included owners of the Red Lion Pub in Dagnall and the Vale Brewery in Buckinghamshire. The team brewed a special “Marathon Runner” beer and sold an incredible 11,376 pints, raising £8,177 thanks to their enthusiastic supporters. The team is taking on the 2026 London Marathon again, and we’re incredibly grateful for their continued support.

After completing a 24-hour race and an ultramarathon, Dr Steve ran his first London Marathon in 2025 with VICTA, raising a phenomenal £7,550. This helped secure a partnership with the Spectris Foundation, who now support our Science Fair and STEM educational activities at VICTA. Steve also supported our 2025 Science Fair, creating an amazing video exploring how particle size affects the taste of chocolate — educational and delicious!

Danny doing a star shape in excitement in his onesie

How can you support VICTA to empower vision impaired children and young adults?

Join our team of incredible volunteers

VICTA’s activities and events wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated volunteer team. We offer so many exciting opportunities across a wide-range of activities, and you get to see your efforts make a real difference.

Find out how to become a volunteer >
Or email Roxanne at activities@victa.org.uk for more information.