I abseiled for my gran

Press Packer Rowan, 8, wanted to raise money for his gran who has a lung disease.

He decided an abseil would raise the most cash.

Here's his story

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"My granny has a lung disease called emphysema. It makes it hard for her to breathe and she needs oxygen in tubes up her nose.

This means she can't do things with me because she is out of breath a lot.

I don't like my granny being ill and it worries me because there is no cure, so she won't ever get better.

Three years ago my granddad did a sponsored abseil to raise money for the British Lung Foundation in Wales. This year I decided to try abseiling too.

Lots of safety equipment

When I arrived at Dinas Rock there were people there to help me get my abseiling kit on and tell me what to do and to make sure that I was safe.

I had to wear a safety hat, a special harness and thick gloves.

The rock I was on is 30m high. It looked much higher than I was expecting, so I was a mixture of excited and very scared.

I clipped the rope onto my harness and I stepped back. I leaned on the rope and it held my weight but my feet slipped and that scared me and I couldn't carry on.

I am very proud of being brave but I didn't go all the way to the bottom like granddad did.

Lots of money raised

I raised £374.90 and that is enough for the British Lung Foundation in Wales to start a new Breathe easy group to help people who are living with lung diseases.

All together everyone who abseiled at Dinas Rock this year raised £3,200 and there's more money coming in!

I might try doing the abseil again next year, but whatever I do I will definitely do some more fundraising for the British Lung Foundation."

Rowan, 8, Derbyshire

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