A university student from south Bucks, who was named volunteer of the year at the St John Ambulance (SJA) Everyday Heroes awards last year, is now planning to take on a skydive to raise money for charity.

Hero Luke Tester, 22, from Seer Green, has been a volunteer with SJA Beaconsfield since he was 15 and said the skydive was his way of saying thanks for the “skills and opportunities” he had been provided.

He said: “I’m not particularly fond of heights but St John’s is a fantastic charity and I wanted to do something nice for them.

“I’m excited [and] really looking forward to it. It should be good fun but also terrifying.

“I think the work SJA does is very important. The aim is to produce a nation of lifesavers.

“No-one should suffer from a lack of first aiders around them.

“St John’s is something I am passionate about – I have learnt a lot from it and made friends and I will keep for life.”

Luke also found love while volunteering, saying he met his girlfriend through SJA.

He initially aimed to raise £500 from the skydive, but soon smashed that target, and his second one of £750 – he is now aiming to raise £1,000, of which he has raised more than £800.

He said: “Every penny is going to go to the charity and it will be very well spent.”

Mum Karen told the Bucks Free Press how proud she was of her son, adding his passion for SJA was “infectious”.

She said: “He spends a great deal of his (very limited) free time training volunteers, attending duties and raising the profile of the charity.

“His biggest challenge came two years ago when he administered a defibrillator to a collapsed runner on the Bristol half marathon and saved his life – an act that he modestly puts down to the excellent training he received.

“Personally I would prefer him to raise money for St John Ambulance with both feet firmly planted on the ground, rather than leaping out of a plane, but that's Luke – never one to turn down a challenge.”

To donate, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Luke-Tester-SJA-skydive.