Karina Vincent of Berry is all smiles after their giant leap. Pictures: ANDY ZAKELI
Atlanta Lloyd, Alycia Targa and Karina Vincent skydived in school dresses for the Do It In A Dress campaign.
Three young South Coast women this week jumped out of a plane wearing school dresses in order to give girls in Sierra Leone the chance to wear them too.
University of Wollongong students Atlanta Lloyd and Alycia Targa and their friend Karina Vincent chose to skydive over North Wollongong in check school tunics as part of the Do It In A Dress campaign.
The global campaign is run throughout October by non-profit organisation One Girl, which raises funds to give girls living in the West African country access to education.
Ms Lloyd, 22, said she was inspired to take part after hearing One Girl's co-founder Chantelle Baxter speak at a leadership conference at the University of Wollongong.
"The female adult literacy rate in Sierra Leone is under 20 per cent and there are many barriers to girls getting a good education, or any kind of education at all," Ms Lloyd said.
"The three of us [doing the skydive] have all been able to get a university education, and we wanted to help give the women of this country the chance to get an education, too.
"We've all skydived before and thought it would be a great way to raise money for such a good cause."
The trio has raised close to $1000 in sponsorship for their skydive, and they took the plunge in near-perfect weather conditions on Wednesday.
"The dresses, which came from One Girl, are quite thin and short so we were a bit chilly up in the air," Ms Lloyd said. "But luckily it was a fairly warm day with not much wind, so it wasn't too bad - and we wore tights underneath."
Ms Baxter said it cost $240 to give one girl in Sierra Leone access to education, so the jump would make a difference to the lives of four girls.
"This is the second year we have run Do It In A Dress and we have been amazed by the response," she said.
"During October more than 1000 people from all over the world have joined up - doing everything from marathons and bungy jumps to rock climbing and surfing in dresses. About 600 Australians have taken part, which included a number of students from the University of Wollongong.
"So far we have raised more than $220,000, which will fund a variety of projects including direct scholarships for about 150 girls as well as school rehabilitation."