A FORMER Gorleston schoolboy, now serving with the Royal Marines Band, is to parachute jump off the top of the 1000ft Auckland City Tower to raise funds for terminally ill children.

A FORMER Gorleston schoolboy, now serving with the Royal Marines Band, is to parachute jump off the top of the 1000ft Auckland City Tower to raise funds for terminally ill children.

Tom Griffin, who attended Cliff Park High School and is a former member of the Great Yarmouth Sea Cadet Unit in Gorleston, is serving with the Royal Marines Band Service based at the Commando Training Centre, Lympstone as a solo clarinettist.

However, at the moment he is on a four month secondment to the New Zealand Military Band Service stationed in Auckland where he has become a key member of the band performing at various military and sporting events, giving concerts at local concert halls and a number of school visits to encourage young people to take up an instrument.

As part of his activities Tom has volunteered to jump off the top of the tower to raise funds for the Starship Foundation, a national New Zealand charity specialising in providing healthcare for terminally ill children.

Tom has set up a website to encourage donations from around the world. The address is www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/marineskyjump. His family said: “Tom has asked that everyone who knows him should access the site for further information and to donate whatever they can to help him reach his $7,500 target and to encourage their friends and family to do the same.”