Dental nurses, Stacy Taylor and Melanie Aubert, will be hoping for a soft landing as they descend from 12,000ft in a tandem parachute jump for charity.

Stacy (23), from Stanmore, and Melanie (32), from Southampton, work at Bickley & Forster, the NHS dental practice at St James' Terrace,Winchester.

Their skydive, due to take place in September, is to raise cash for the "Hello, Martha" Fund which was set up by their boss, Alan Bickley, after his daughter died of cystic fibrosis two years ago.

Melanie and Stacy have already raised £200 from patients, family and friends and they hope to increase it to at least £1,000.

"We will do a minute of free fall and when the canopy opens, it will take six minutes to reach the ground," said Stacey.

"We want to make as much money as possible, so we thought we'd better do something extreme!"

"Cystic fibrosis is a horrible disease and we've seen how it can affect and destroy people's lives," she added.

A concert by Winchester Cathedral Girls Choir in All Saints, Church, Compton, last month realised almost £1,400 for the "Hello, Martha" fund - under the auspices of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the cash is used to provide respite care for families affected by the disease.

To sponsor or donate to the skydive effort, contact Stacy or Melanie on 01962-865560. For more information, visit www. hellomarthafund.com