A man with a severe facial disfigurement is doing a charity skydive to raise awareness of his condition.

Adam Pearson suffers from a rare genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis, that causes excess body tissue to grow on nerve endings, causing non-cancerous tumours to develop.

The tumours can occur anywhere on the human body, but in his case they have developed on his face.

Mr Pearson, who lives in Addiscombe, is doing the jump as part of disfigurement charity Changing Faces' Face Your Fears Week.

The 27-year-old ,who was badly bullied at school, has been involved in Changing Faces for about 20 years.

He said: "It is really important to raise awareness about facial disfigurement and if jumping out of a plane is going to help then so be it.

"I don't have a fear of heights but I do have a fear of falling. But I think if you are going to raise money and do something for charity it has to be something outside of your comfort zone."

Mr Pearson, who appeared on Channel 4 series Beauty and The Beast: The Ugly Face of Prejudice, has so far raised over £1,000 for the charity.

Sophie Erskine, public fundraising officer for the charity, said: "Adam is just one of many fear-facers who are taking part in Face Your Fears Week 2012.

"This week is all about people facing their own personal fears and raising money for us at the same time.

"Whether your fear is heights, public speaking or something far more unusual, now is your chance to face it by visiting faceyourfears.org.uk and signing up today."

To sponsor Adam visit justgiving.com/adampearsonskydive.