A KITCHEN showroom manager took the plunge and conquered his fear of heights by paragliding down a hill for charity.

And when Chris Wright, of Stuart Frazer, Stanley Street, Preston, gripped his parachute in Rochdale earlier this month, he felt serene, rather than like letting out a scream!

Now he plans to throw himself down hills regularly and make paragliding a hobby.

The descent was for Stuart Frazer's 'Time for a Change Challenge', which was launched four months ago which encourages charity events.

Representatives from the Accrington, Manchester, Preston and Rochdale stores take up regular challenges to raise money for charity.

The paragliding resulted in a £1,202 cheque, £300 of which was contributed by Chris, for Preston-based Vine House Cancer Charity which provides day care for cancer patients in the area. Four other workers took part in the descent, although a couple pulled out at the last minute.

"They tried it in training but didn't like it," said Chris, pictured. "They don't know what they missed.

"I'm scared of heights. The glide overcame a bit of a fear for me, but I have always wanted to do something like that at the back of my mind. It was only a training session, the first step to learning to do it properly, and the highest I got was 30 feet, but I will probably go back in the spring when the centre in Rochdale re-opens as I really enjoyed it.

"It's quite a serene thing to do. The parachute is very, very difficult to control so I thought it would be nerve-racking.

"When we first thought of doing a challenge to raise some money for the Vine House I knew it would be enjoyable but didn't expect to raise this much money."