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By Kirsty, November 30, 2010 11:32 am

Bob McCall from Portland, Oregon in the USA
brightened up our day last week with a beautiful  photograph of one of our balloons above the city of Bath from October’s end of season flights.

The almost retired banker was visiting the UK when he took the fantastic photograph. “We were visiting my wife’s sister and brother-in-law who live in Bath, UK and the picture was taken from their living room. We were spending a few days with them before we all left for a trip to Spain.”

“I took several pictures as the balloon first became visible, but I thought this was the best one as the name on the balloon was centred. The first picture just saw the balloon peeking out of the trees,” he added.

The photography enthusiast had never seen one of our iconic red hot air balloons before and had never had the chance to experience this beautiful form of aviation. Let’s hope his next visit to the UK will see Bob take to the skies with Virgin Balloon Flights!

Thanks for the photograph Bob.

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By Eve, November 24, 2010 7:13 pm

Virgin Money Giving has been helping to raise valuable funds for charity for just over a year now.

In that time they’ve achieved a staggering amount with over £25 million raised by over 40,000 fundraisers. Because Virgin Money Giving only covers their running costs and offer a free Gift Aid reclaim service this has made charities £1m better off. Over 2,400 have already signed up to Virgin Money Giving and this number keeps on rising.

So to raise even more awareness and to encourage fundraisers to use Virgin Money Giving for their online fundraising, they’ve created a ridiculously addictive online game called Ballistick which you can find on the Virgin Money Giving Facebook Page.

In a nutshell, you load your little stickman into a cannon (we’re not sure what he did to deserve this), aim and fire him towards his target! Steering him through the air is tricky though – mind he doesn’t bang his head on Big Ben or fall flat on his face from a great height!

Be warned, once you start playing you can’t stop! And you really wouldn’t want to because you could be in with a chance of winning some seriously cool prizes such as Virgin London Marathon places, an iPad or even hot air balloon rides from Virgin Balloon Flights.

Play Ballistick!

Good luck!

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By Kirsty, November 15, 2010 6:04 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights will be joining ‘The most popular Christmas shopping fair in the Midlands’ from the 18^th -21^st of November at the NEC’s Festive Gift Fair.

Our airborne adventures will be on sale at the fair giving the gift shoppers something spectacular for their loved ones to unwrap this Christmas.

Visitors can soak up the atmosphere with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie whilst browsing over 300 stalls offering unusual gifts and adventurous experiences all under one roof!

Father Christmas will even be there to lend a hand with the shopping whilst busy present buyers listen to The Brass Band Santa’s or the angelic choral choir.

A hot air balloon ride with us is an experience of a lifetime and a perfect present to take home and gift wrap. We’ll be there too, on hand to explain which vouchers are best for you and to show you where your nearest launch site is. With over 100 locations to fly from in England, Scotland and Wales there is bound to be one near you.

You can even take home a piece of Virgin ballooning history as we’ll be giving you the chance to purchase our limited edition bags and jackets made by sustainable fashion brand Worn Again. Made with the material of retired Virgin hot air balloons, these one off garments are truly unique and up-cycled to the latest trends.

So get into the Christmas spirit and we’ll see you there in Hall 12 at Birmingham’s NEC. Show tickets are available at festivegiftfair.co.uk from just £7.50 per person.

If you can’t get to the fair, fear not, our lovely balloon flight vouchers are available online, check out our festive offers here!

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By Kirsty, November 3, 2010 3:07 pm

Katie Cummings, nine, from Preston Lancashire returned
to school after the half term break with  something spectacular to share with her classmates. She had joined her Mum Rachael and sister Rebeka aboard a Virgin hot air balloon ride above York.

The Virgin Balloon Flight vouchers were bought as a Christmas gift by Dad Steve last year and the ‘Great’ British weather was on the Cummings family’s side as they flew on their first attempt.

The flight took place just a couple of days after Katie’s ninth birthday and Dad Steve said “I decided it would be a nice late present for her.”

“She loved taking off & landing, as this was very exciting… she took a picture of some pigs in a farm that looked tiny. Katie sums up the hot air balloon flight over York as an ‘unbelievable experience’!” he added.

Katie is still telling all her school friends about her trip and Dad Steve believes it will be quite some time before she stops mentioning it.

To book your experience of a lifetime simply call our Shropshire based call centre on 01952 212750 or visit virginballoonflights.co.uk.

* Passengers must be over 7 years of age and at least 4’6” in height. Children aged under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Virgin Balloon Flights is unable to fly passengers who are pregnant or who have recently undergone major surgery.