Two pensioners will be leaping from an aeroplane at the weekend when they do sponsored tandem skydives to raise money for charity.

Gwynneth Cooke, from Kidlington, and Trish Wagstaff, from Appleton, near Oxford, are looking forward to their leap at Weston-on-the-Green on Saturday.

The duo, who will jump from a plane at 10,000ft, will free fall for 5,000ft, before their parachutes open and they land.

They are hoping to raise about £8,000 for Age Concern Oxfordshire, which they both volunteer for.

Ms Cooke, 73, of Oxford Road, Kidlington, runs the lunch club every Monday at Barton Neighbourhood Centre, from 11am until 2pm.

Mrs Wagstaff, 76, of Netherton Road, Appleton, is an Age Concern volunteer for Appleton and puts people in contact with the charity if they have financial or housing problems.

Ms Cooke said: "The charity said just before Christmas they were going to ask people to do a skydive to help raise money and it was something that I had always wanted to do.

"I don't like heights on buildings, but I'm not worried about doing this. It's very exciting."

They will undergo training before being strapped to an experienced instructor, who will bring the pensioners safely to ground.

Mrs Wagstaff, who has two children, Sheena and Keith, and two grandchildren, Tom and Emmie, said she had raised £7,500 since agreeing to take part.

She said: "It will def- initely be an experience. And those who have sponsored me said I'm really going to enjoy it. I believe the most scary part is when I will be hanging out of the aeroplane and the person I'm strapped to is still inside, telling me not to look down.

"It will be exhilarating and I'm looking forward to a nice-looking 6ft instructor who will land before me."

Age Concern's county development manager, Amanda Bowley, said: "I think it's absolutely amazing that they would go to such great heights to help us reach out to the older people in Oxford."

Ms Cooke said: "I have to raise a minimum of £175 but I have already doubled that. I have got sponsorship from friends and family and even the window cleaner.

"I'm hoping that my daughter Sylvia and grand-daughter Sophina will come and watch on the day. Sylvia thinks I have gone completely mad."

Mrs Wagstaff has also been a volunteer for Oxford's Sobell House hospice for 20 years.