Brave Halesowen workers to abseil skyscraper for charity

Beam Insurance Solutions employees Matthew McSwiggan, David Johnston, Steve Faulkner, Gemma Tedstone, Sharon Leech, Josh Portman, Jamie Green and Jaz Khunkun will take on the challenge of descending down The Bank's Tower 2 in Birmingham on Friday June 30.

They will be joined on the KWB and Edward's Trust Abseil by Halesowen BID manager Vicky Rogers.

Halesowen BID manager Vicky Rogers, who has also lost a sibling, with Matthew McSwiggan (Image: Handout)

The crew have raised £789 of their £1.2k target for Edward's Trust with more funds rolling in. Donations can be made on JustGiving.com.

Matthew McSwiggan, who lost his brother Kevin to suicide in December 2020 and is taking on the challenge in his memory, said: "We will be reaching new heights by descending The Bank's Tower 2, one of the tallest residential buildings in Birmingham at 33 storeys and over 100 metres tall.

"All money raised will go to Edward's Trust, who support children, young people and families facing loss and surviving bereavement across the West Midlands.

"The challenge may be scary, but it doesn't come close to the journey that so many of our Edward's Trust families go through after the loss of a loved one."

Ever since Matthew lost his brother who was just 40 when he died he has staged a series of fundraisers in his memory and has also worked to raise awareness of mental health issues and encouraged people to reach out for help with his motto 'it's okay to not be okay.'

Kevin (left) and Matthew McSwiggan in happy times (Image: Handout)

The Edward's Trust was set up in 1989 by Peter and Hilary Dent in memory of their son Edward, who died aged 7 of cancer at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

They have provided holistic family bereavement services across the West Midlands for over 30 years.