Two brave Whittington workers will swap the wards for the sky (and then, hopefully, the ground) when they jump out of a plane for charity this weekend.

Tracey Palmer and Angel Bellot are completing the skydive in Reading to raise cash for pancreatic cancer research on Sunday.

The jump was organised by Macmillan volunteer Eve Harris – who can’t do the skydive herself for medical reasons – in memory of her friend Michael Ingall. Michael died of cancer this week.

“Pancreatic cancer is the 10th most common cancer in the UK,” Tracey wrote on the pair’s JustGiving page. “It is very difficult to treat as it often goes undetected until the disease is well advanced.”

She added: “Most shockingly it is the only cancer that has seen no improvement in survival rates over the last 40 years.”

Eve, who lives in Headington Grove, Islington, collected upwards of £800 in donations from Highgate Autos where she works one day a week, while the JustGiving site has more than £600 on it. The two skydivers will cover their own costs so all cash goes straight to Pancreatic Cancer UK.

“They were talking about how bored and fed up they were of life,” said Eve, “and how they needed a bit of excitement. I said, ‘We could do a skydive’ – that’s how it started. It was only a few weeks ago.

“Breast cancer gets all the money and research and statistically it’s doing really well for survival. Only 3pc of pancreatic cancer patients survive – it’s really low.”

If you would like to support the women’s skydive, visit their JustGiving page – and check next week’s paper to find out how they got on!