A BUSINESSWOMAN marked 10 years of trading by jumping out of a plane.

Julie Earnshaw, owner of The Salon in Slaithwaite, took a giant leap of faith with her senior stylist Becky Moreton.

But it came about by accident – Julie’s partner, Trevor Holmes, had bought the skydive at a charity ball intending to jump himself.

But when he had to pull out Julie stepped in and was joined by Becky.

Julie said: “It was a blessing in disguise really – it was scary but an amazing experience.

“We jumped from 15,000ft and we both did a somersault in freefall at 120mph for about one minute, which felt a lot longer.

“When the parachute opens it pulls you up and you float down, but we floated down from very high up.

“It was a great way to mark 10 years in business and raise money for charity too and I’m glad Becky did it with me, she was brilliant.

“I’ll have to think of what I can get Trevor to do now,” she joked.

Julie said: “It’s not easy running your own business and it is hard work and I feel proud of what I’ve achieved,” she added.

“I’ve had a lot of support from my team and from the Slaithwaite community, who are just brilliant.

“I love my salon, I love the village and the atmosphere here just gets better all the time.”

And Julie is at the heart of village life – she’s organised charity balls, held fundraisers to help poorly children and supported a special care baby unit.

Her team includes Becky, Leanne Chambers, Aaron Chambers, Lauren Norman and Fran Bee.

She’s also part of the Meals on Wheels team, which featured on the Hairy Bikers TV show and delivers a hot meal to older members of the village.

The skydive fundraiser is in addition to a charity ball organised by Julie which took place at the Pennine Manor Hotel. They’ve raised £1,400 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance so far and the total is rising all the time.

To support their sky-high effort call into The Salon, Britannia Road, Slaithwaite.