A TIRELESS fundraiser is taking his efforts for charity to new heights as he prepares to skydive this weekend.

Lenny Worthing of Gobowen has been fundraising annually for the past 20 years, raising money for various local and national causes.

In that time, the 50-year-old has taken on challenging tasks such as the London Marathon, a trek across the Sahara Desert and a 24-hour climbing challenge repeatedly summiting the Wrekin hill.

This year, Lenny’s selected local charity is Severn Hospice, and to fulfil his ambition of trying a different challenge each year, he will be taking to the skies in Whitchurch on Saturday to skydive.

“I’m absolutely petrified of heights,” he said.

“This is the first time I’ve parachuted in my life.

“I’m trying my best to not give the actual jump itself too much thought until I get up there on the day.”

Lenny will be joined on his jump by son Archie Worthing, Jess Smith and Tobi Smith.

He has raised money in several ways, including bucket collections and pub crawls in fancy dress outfits.

He said: “The support in Oswestry, Shrewsbury and everywhere in between has been fantastic.

“When doing so many, you can’t just rely on family and friends to donate all the time.

“I’d like to thank everyone for donating and Lee at Gobowen Autocare Ltd for donating £100 and providing the t-shirt which I’ll be wearing for the jump.

"I would also like to thank the pubs for allowing me to do the bar crawls."

Lenny’s attitude to helping others has been ever-present since his first challenge back in 1996 when he took on the famous London Marathon.

He said: “I think it’s important to give money to local charities – sometimes it’s not as easy for them to get as much money as bigger charities.

“My first challenge was to take on the London Marathon for Macmillan after my mum died in 1996.

“I gave up smoking and started training for it – after doing the first one, it just became a part of me.

“You never know what’s around the corner so it’s nice to help others out whenever you can.

“I’m yet to decide which local charity I want to raise money for next year, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them!”

If anyone would like to suggest a charity for Lenny to suoport, call 07766633952 or email lennyworthing@hotmail.com