Co-founder of Homeless Street Angels, Becky Joyce, has boosted the charity’s fundraising efforts with a sky dive in memory of her late sister.
The Co-Founder of the Homeless Street Angels has raised thousands of pounds after taking on a charity skydive in memory of her late sister. Becky Joyce, who founded the charity with her twin sister Shelley, completed the skydive in March on the birthday of their sister Abi, who passed away at the age of 39 in 2017.
Becky has managed to raise over £4,100 for the charity with donations going towards the funding of Abi House, a new day care centre dedicated in her sister’s name. When approved, Abi House will provide mental health support, drug and alcohol counselling, as well as life skills workshops for the city’s homeless and vulnerable, increasing the charity’s outreach across Leeds.
Launching in 2017, Homeless Street Angels currently supports over 180 families across Leeds, with volunteers handing out hot meals, clothes, and toiletries to rough sleepers every week. The charity also opened food banks and emergency accommodation for struggling families during the pandemic, providing ongoing counselling for those they managed to rehouse following raised living costs.
Sky diving from 15,000 ft above Cockerham, Lancaster, Becky was also joined by her close friend Helen Williams-Taylor who raised another £1,000 towards the charity.
“Helen and I have been friends for about 30 years and always had skydiving on our bucket list,” said Becky. “We were both trying not to talk about it leading up to the jump because we were both so petrified! But I just wanted to do something special for Abi’s birthday. It was the closest to heaven I could have been to her.”