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By Kirsty, March 23, 2011 2:38 pm

We understand that most of you are now aware of the situation in Japan, the British Red Cross have  sent the latest update to appeal for your help! Virgin Balloon Flights would like to encourage all their staff, customers, friends, followers and suppliers to make a small donation to aid this heartbreaking disaster. To support the Red Cross, please click on the banners in this blog.

On Friday 11 March, Japan was struck by the biggest earthquake in its history, measuring a massive 9.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake struck 250 miles northeast of Tokyo and triggered a tsunami with seven metre waves, which swept away everything in its path.

The earthquake lasted two minutes and was followed by strong aftershocks with magnitudes between 6.4 and 7.1. More than 8,000 people have been confirmed dead so far and 12,000 are still missing.

The disaster triggered hundreds of fires and caused severe damage to buildings, destroying over 14,000 homes, leaving 1.2 million without electricity and 1.4 million people without water.

The capital Tokyo is still experiencing regular aftershocks, and there are warnings that another powerful earthquake could strike again soon. Many local residents are too afraid to stay in their homes at night because of the fear of a repeated tsunami.

Response of the Red Cross Movement

Hospitals have received thousands of patients. Many of those wounded are burn victims whose homes caught fire. Others are at risk of pneumonia having inhaled large quantities of contaminated sea water.

The Japanese Red Cross has been working on the ground since the disaster began, mobilising hundreds of doctors, nurses and support staff. They are providing first aid and health care through mobile clinics, and plan to establish services in the more remote regions.

More than 500,000 people who were evacuated before the tsunami struck have been housed in temporary centres set up in schools and public buildings. There the Red Cross is providing health care and distributing relief items. 122,500 blankets and 8,600 emergency kits have already been distributed, with many more on the way.

The Red Cross has also opened a Family Links service, which helps to reunite family members who were separated during the disaster. So far over 5,100 people have registered on the website.

With 47 branches, 92 Red Cross hospitals, 495 deployable medical teams and two million registered volunteers, the Japanese Red Cross is experienced and well equipped to deal with the unfolding humanitarian situation.

However, the costs of the relief effort, and of rebuilding the homes and lives of those affected, will be immense. All donations to the British Red Cross will be used towards helping the Japanese people recover from this devastating
natural disaster over the coming months and years.

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By Alex, March 22, 2011 3:02 pm

When Jon Smallwood disappeared into the basket of a hot air balloon after a voyage over Dorset and performed a headstand, he left other passengers open mouthed. But this was far more than an unusual party trick.

Deputy head teacher Jon is known in Dorset as the ‘ The Headstand King’ and this was the latest of many headstands he has performed in weird and wonderful places – from cliff tops to supermarket check outs - to raise money for the Eve Appeal – Gynaecology Cancer Research Fund. The keen runner, who fought off Leukaemia himself two years ago, is doing a fantastic job with the total already over £1,000.

After conquering the balloon basket, following the balloon flight from Sherborne on January 19th, he then went on to do a headstand on the balloon evelope which was packed away in its bag. Dorset hot air balloon pilot Simon Redman was so impressed he made a donation to the cause.

He said: “When Jon asked if he could do a headstand in the basket while we were flying unfortunately I had to say no, but he wasn’t put off and after we landed he jumped straight into the basket and did a perfect handstand so you could just see his legs sticking out. It was brilliant and made everyone laugh. He’s a great sport and is raising money for a really good cause so I was more than happy to domy little bit. I can’t wait to see where he does the next headstand!”

See more pictures of the Headstand King in action  or Find out about the Eve Appeal or make a donation

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By Kirsty, March 21, 2011 7:06 pm

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you I have been forced to pull out of the London  Marathon due to an Achilles injury and a hip problem.

I have been aware of these issues for some time and have been attending regular sessions with a sports physiotherapist and undertaking specific fitness training in a bid to overcome them in time for the marathon. However, my physio does not believe I will be physically able to do the required high-mileage training in time or to complete the race on the 17^th April. Due to the risk of causing a serious long-term injury I have had no choice but to pull out.

Naturally, I am hugely disappointed that I won’t be able to run, but I am planning to do a parachute jump to make up for it in some way. I would like to thank all the generous people and businesses who have said they will continue to sponsor me for the jump so Hope House will still benefit.

Meanwhile, the Virgin Balloon Flights team and I are still busy fundraising and we are fast approaching the £5k mark. We’ll be doing everything we can to raise as much money as possible over the next few weeks.

I would like to wish everyone who is running the marathon the best of luck and sorry I can’t do it with you this time round.

Best wishes

Sue

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By Kirsty, March 21, 2011 4:28 pm

Youngsters Niamh Rhodes (L) and Grace Kerr (R) were delighted when our Yorkshire pilot Martin Collinson landed his balloon in one of the Rhodes family’s fields on Friday evening. The flight which took off from York Racecourse blissfully floated for around an hour before coming down to land to the delight of the girls.

The 120ft balloon envelope was welcomed down by the pair who were enjoying fundraising for Comic Relief wearing red clothes and supporting painted cheeks in aid of Red Nose Day.

“The girls were very excited and loved watching the balloon land. They simply loved the balloon and have talked about nothing else but going up in one one day and watching its impressive landing ever since. The balloon landed perfectly and the girls thought it was fabulous,” said Niamh’s Mum and field owner Jenny Rhodes.

On their efforts for red nose day Jenny added “The girls feel sad for the children and families in Africa and understand the need to raise money to help them. They understand and worry about the mosquitos in particular and are very aware of raising money for special medicine and mosquito nets.”

Well done for fundraising girls, we hope to see you in the sky in the future!

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By Kirsty, March 18, 2011 7:23 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights have joined in the red nose day fun, raising funds for Comic Relief at Balloons HQ. With a red monster poised on the nose of every employee, bags of walker’s crisps and some Comic Relief scratch cards, we had plenty of fun bringing yet more red to our brand for the day.

“Red Nose Day is a day like no other when the whole country gets  together to do something funny for money and change countless   lives in the process. It all culminates in a night of cracking TV on the BBC with some of the biggest names in comedy and entertainment. And the best bit? All the fun and mayhem helps to raise cash and transform lives across the UK and Africa.” Comic Relief.

After closely following the world record set by Chris Moyles and the team on radio 1, VBF staff got together to do their bit for the charity  and laughed a little at each other along the way. What’s more, with all the fun and games, Virgin Balloon Flights have made a small contribution to a big campaign to make a brighter future for others.

Happy Red Nose Day!

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By Kirsty, March 18, 2011 5:27 pm

As part of Virgin Balloon Flights’ ongoing efforts to raise as much money as possible for Hope House Children’s Hospices, they set up stall in the local Tesco store to get food shoppers onboard with buying tickets to the super spectacular BIG VIRGIN RAFFLE!

After a full day’s work and 10 volunteers helping out we have another £284.00 to add to the pot for Hope House, an excellent effort from all!

To view the prizes of our BIG VIRGIN RAFFLE simple follow this link - The Raffle! . Thank you to Tesco for having us, and good luck to all your lovely customers!!

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By Eve, March 15, 2011 6:20 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights’ fundraising efforts for Hope House Children’s Hospices continued with gusto this weekend when Eve from marketing took part in one of the UK’s toughest half marathons, the Ironbridge Half Marathon in Shropshire.

What started as a dull and rainy Sunday turned into glorious sunshine just in time for the starting gun to go off and for almost 500 runners to wend their way from Town Park in Telford into the stunning World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge and back again. The course was reversed this year and included a killer hill at mile 8 which took a lot of runners by surprise. Despite this sadistic twist added by organisers Telford Harriers, you’d be hard pushed to find a race with better scenery or atmosphere so it’s definitely worth a go.

Eve crossing the finish line in much pain but in good cheer

This race was even harder than the full marathon I ran last year, but I had some great support from people who sponsored me for the race so there was no giving up! Hope House is a brilliant charity so it was an honour to be able to help raise much needed funds, – Eve

Next on the challenge list for Virgin Balloon Flights is a sky dive scheduled for April 9^th 2011 for a small group of customer service representatives so watch this space and good luck girls!

For your chance to win amazing prizes from across the Virgin group our big Virgin raffle tickets are still on sale – see our Charity Raffle page for all the info.