A 74-year-old grandmother has raised more than £1,500 for charity – by throwing herself out of a plane at 12,000ft.

Shirley Owen undertook her skydive last Saturday to raise funds for Paul's Place, which supports adults with physical, cognitive and sensory impairments.

Strapped to an instructor, Mrs Owen, from Downend, fell from 12,000ft to 5,000ft before the parachute was opened and she floated safely to the ground.

The excited gran said: "It was absolutely brilliant, just fantastic.

"I had already thought about it a long time before I booked it, and once I had made up my mind I didn't feel at all nervous.

"I was much too old to do a jump on my own, so I did a tandem at Silver Stars in South Cerney."

And any fears she might have had were dispelled when she found out who she was jumping with – a strapping 6ft 6in instructor called Karl.

Mrs Owen said: "I thought it was great. He was very chatty when he was putting my straps on, and when he said I would have to sit on his lap so he could make sure the harness was tight it made my day.

"But the very next jump he did with his girlfriend, and he proposed to her when he landed, so my chances were scuppered."

Mrs Owen, who said it was a "tremendous buzz" to feel wind in her ears as she tumbled to earth, said she had wanted to experience the feeling of floating down to the ground.

She said: "You just get a bit envious sometimes. I have had three children and eight grandchildren, a good contribution to the country, so I thought how about something that would make me feel top of the shop. You can't get much higher than 12,000ft."

The money Mrs Owen raised will go towards a £300,000 extension to the Paul's Place base at Coalpit Heath cricket club, which will allow staff to care for more people.

Mrs Owen's own son, David, has been going to Paul's Place since it opened in 1995 after he had two brain haemorrhages.

Now 48, he attends the centre five times a week. His mum, who also volunteers every Friday, wanted to give something back to the centre.

She said: "They need the money to pay for more facilities.

"The cricket club is great, but sometimes people just want to sit quietly on their own. The extension would help them to do that."

The charity moved to Coalpit Heath cricket club at Christmas 2007 after it outgrew its old premises.

It now caters for almost 200 people a week, and is nearing capacity.

Kath Aldom, the charity's founder and manager, said: "The 50ft extension will allow us to accommodate a lot more people and help us keep our doors open for those who need us.

"We have now raised £207,000, and that is on top of the £91,000 we have to find every year just to keep running.

"Lots of people in our charity are very generous and raise money, but for someone of Shirley's age to have made that commitment and raised £1,500 for the charity is just wonderful.

"It is a braver thing than I would ever do, and I want to take my hat off to her for doing something profound at her age and doing it for us.

"I don't even like lifts, so I would be terrified to do something like that, so all I can do is thank her so much for what she has done."