THREE bakers will be taking the plunge for charity in support of one of their wives who suffers from a degenerative disease.

Paul Speight wanted to raise cash for the Huntington’s Disease Association after his wife Angela was diagnosed with the condition about four years ago.

He will be joined in his parachute jump by two colleagues at Lilley’s Bakery, in Walton, Kraig Bownes and Damien Staniszewski.

Mr Speight, aged 44, and his wife Angela, aged 43, had never heard of Huntington’s disease before she was diagnosed with the condition.

Although it is hereditary, it had never affected anyone else in the family, meaning it took doctors several years to work out what was causing her to tremble and fall over.

The neurological condition causes degeneration of the cells in the brain, affecting people’s ability to walk, think, talk and reason. There is no cure, and children of sufferers have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the faulty gene which causes it.

Mr Speight, of Old Road, Frinton, said: “We have got four daughters, so it affects everything really.”

He also wants to raise awareness of the illness, adding: “It is fairly rare, and you hear about Parkinson’s and cancer but you don’t often hear of anyone with Huntington’s.

“There are only one of two people I have come across who knew anything about it.”

He hopes Angela will be there to cheer the trio on when they make the jump on June 20.

Nerves are beginning to set in for the bakers, but Mr Speight added: “We have collected sponsorship and told everybody we are going to it, I can’t really back out.”

The group are collecting donations through charity boxes in their three bakery sites in Portobello Road, in Walton, and Connaught Avenue and the Triangle Shopping Centre, both in Frinton.

You can donate by e-mailing Mr Speight at pjspeight@talktalk.net.