The family of a High Wycombe woman who was hospitalised nearly 400 miles away from her home with anorexia will jump out of a plane to raise money for a charity.

Fiona Hollings, 20, has been suffering from an eating disorder for four years and made headlines last year when she was hospitalised in a specialist eating disorder unit in Glasgow – hundreds of miles away from her High Wycombe home – due to a lack of beds.

Her father and sister, Stephen and Pippa Hollings, who have travelled thousands of miles to see Fiona in the last year, are hoping to raise at least £750 for leading eating disorders charity Beat, when they jump out of a plane on August 16.

Describing his daughter’s ordeal, Stephen said: “Fiona’s challenges became far worse the day she turned 18. Budgets and resources were dramatically lower than when she was under the care of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

“To illustrate this there was a one-year wait to access in community eating disorder therapy despite being assessed as an urgent case.

“What happened to Fiona highlights the huge gap in care for children as they turn 18 and are classified as adults.”

Stephen says Pippa encouraged him to take on a skydive in aid of Beat, which campaign to see waiting times for both adults and children reduced and encourages people who have been negatively affected by long waiting to share their stories.

He added: “My daughter Pippa persuaded me to embark on this fundraising, we have received a lot of support so far and we hope to go over our initial goal.”

At least 725,000 people in the UK of all ages, genders, and backgrounds have an eating disorder and the Hollings family hopes to improve the care given to people over the age of 18 with an eating disorder.

Stephen and Pippa want to raise money but also raise awareness about early interventions and want to assure that no other families have to travel so far to find a specialist bed.

Tom Quinn, Beat’s director of external affairs, said: “Eating disorders are serious, complex mental illnesses and early intervention is key to recovery.

“All evidence tells us the sooner someone with an eating disorder gets the treatment they need, the more likely they are to make a full and sustained recovery. And for this reason, more work must be done at a national and local level to ensure waiting time figures improve year on year.

“We are pleased NHS England has introduced new standards for waiting times for children and adolescents but the same priority must be given to those over the age of 18 to access treatment quickly. Eating disorders do not disappear when someone becomes an adult, and so we must see equivalent targets established across all age groups.

“It also important that access to treatment is considered alongside waiting times, so that no-one is excluded from the treatment they need.”

To donate towards Stephen and Pippa’s challenge, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pippa-hollings.