Denton MP prepares for wing walk challenge

Denton MP Andrew Gwynne is preparing for his most daring challenge yet to raise money for Tameside youngster Florence Croce.

Florence is a beautiful happy, loving and strong-willed little girl.

Sadly, she suffers from a rare life limiting degenerative condition called late infantile GM1. This horrendous and cruel condition has already robbed her of her ability to walk and talk. It will slowly take away the abilities she still has resulting in her being taken from her loving family far too soon.

But before then, her mum Jenny is determined to raise as much money as possible to provide Florence with the best life she can have, plus fund any treatments not available on the NHS, as well as raise awareness of the condition.

MP Andrew Gwynne has long been a supporter of Florence and her family, and has taken part in a number of daring challenges to date.

These have included a parachute jump and zipwire effort, while he has heightened the profile of the condition by raising the matter in Parliament.

This weekend he could face his most ambitious effort yet - a wing walk.

The MP said: “Previously I got suckered into jumping out of a plane at 15,000ft and since then we’ve also done the world’s longest zipwire over in Wales, so this is my third challenge. I haven’t said no even though I’m actually petrified of heights to do this wing walk. It’s also about raising awareness of GM1.

“The whole point of fundraising is to ensure Florence has some brilliant experiences and great times with her family.”

He will be joined in the effort by super fundraiser Massimo Malacrino who has been a supporter for a number of years too.

He said: “I’ve known Jenny for quite a few years and when she told us about Florence and her condition, I just had to help her. It’s doing something for a friend and I'm happy to make sacrifices to support Florence, but that's what you do for friends."

Jenny added: “From day one we wanted to make a difference for Florence and raise money to create memories for Florence and also raise awareness of this condition to try and try and prevent other families facing the same challenges.”

To make a donation of any amount or to sponsor the wing walk you can visit www.just-giving.com/crowdfunding/jenny-croce-wingwalk or find out more on the Facebook page for Fundraising For Florence.