Shropshire charity fundraiser Julia flying high at 75

Julia and the team will travel to Gloucester for the stunt.

Over the past 35 years Julia has jumped, swum, walked, zip wired and ridden her adventurous way through big birthdays and all for charities.

She has been variously excited, exhilarated, scared and frankly terrified.

But Julia of The Hem, near Shifnal, has never given up, has always achieved what she set out to do – despite crushing vertebrae in her spine, wrecking her shoulder and shaking up pretty well every bone in her body when she did the parachute jump which started it all back in 1982.

Now, she has continued to come up with the sort of ideas that are widely admired but which also horrify many friends and supporters who close their eyes in disbelief.

And they will be shutting them again next month when Julia goes for the big one as a birthday finale, after doctors have advised against any more daredevil exploits. Though it takes more than a warning to knock this lady off track if there is some way round the challenge.

Which is why she is about to take the biggest plunge of all – except that we hope she won't be plunging. Because Julia Prior has now got her eye on a little plane – she is going wing walking to mark her 75th birthday.

On April 12 she joins a small group taking part in a Breitling Daring Wing Walk in Cirencester. As we browse through the snaps and cuttings of yesteryear, she says: "I hope we'll be able to stand rather than sit on the wing. I'll definitely be disappointed if I don't get to loop the loop."

For the uninitiated you do that backwards apparently. And talking of backwards, Julia also did the back stroke when she swam the equivalent of swimming the English Channel by swimming two miles every day on 11 consecutive days in the Great Hay pool in Telford – she swims there at 6.30am every day of the year including Christmas Day.

Ask her which of her challenges was the toughest and interestingly she instantly replies: "The swim. Mentally it was the most difficult. To get up each morning and know you have to do 224 lengths of the pool, in perhaps more than 100 minutes, was the worst and that was back stroke as well."

But it also raised more than £1,600 for the Brooke Hospital, a British charity, working to improve the lives of horses, donkeys and mules and people who depend on them across the world.

The hospital is close to her heart and has benefited from several of her exploits while closer to home, the same goes for our own Severn Hospice which has been well supported.

And knowing the difference your efforts can make is probably the best motivation of all. That first parachute jump in 1982 raised £879 for the local church, school gym equipment and a day out for elderly folk.

Julia said: "I'll be disappointed if I don't raise £2,500 from the wing walk for the Midlands Air Ambulance."

Her efforts have been a wonderful example of what can be achieved, even as we get older. Julia might push those boundaries more than a bit – in between everything else, she has also climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. While a favourite challenge remains trekking across the Egyptian Desert on horseback, also for the Brooke Hospital to mark her 60th birthday.

She said: "I loved that horse GaMeela, I fell for her as soon as I saw her and it was a marvellous trip. Back home, my 65th saw me zip across the old Gay Meadow Ground in Shrewsbury from the Darwin Shopping Centre."

Julia has already raised £9,579 with her fantastic endeavours and if she meets her target for the wing walk for the Air Ambulance, she'll be smiling for the rest of the year.

She is a perfect example of volunteering and then saying it's not about her, it's all about those who actually raise the money. And she is so grateful to everyone who has supported and encouraged her. And all eyes will be raised upwards next month as Julia takes to the skies. If you can help her boost the funds call 01952 460566.