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By Kirsty, September 26, 2011 4:35 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights are supporting an up and coming charity youth centre aimed at young adults in memory  of local 21 year old Danny Reynolds.

Sadly Danny lost his life as a passenger in a car accident last November, when the young driver was above the legal alcohol limit. Danny’s mother Di, has since set the wheels in motion to start the Danny Reynolds centre in Stafford that will be aimed at young adults aged 13-25. The centre will include the following facilities:

A free gym facility with a personal trainer to include self-defence classes by a qualified instructor.

A drop in centre – providing advice and signposting for benefits, education, training , voluntary work and housing advice.

Chill out zone – to give young people alternative options to alcohol, pubs, clubs and drugs, anti-social behaviour and links to crime.

Training Days – drugs awareness, alcohol awareness, speed awareness, independent living skills, sexual health awareness and any further accreditation training from external agencies.

A free childcare facility – aimed to provide young parents in this age group with a facility that is free including the socially deprived to enable them to access centre facilities.

Youth church – aimed to be run by young people in this age group to include them in local communities and provide them with pastoral care.

Quiet Room – a safe environment for young people to access after bereavement, which will include free usage for external agencies to use for counselling in all areas including unemployment and financial issues.

On the 28^th October, a Reggae night will be held at The Westway pub in Stafford to start raising funds for the centre; this will be where supporters get the chance to bag a pair of Virgin Balloon Flights which can be used at any of our 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland and Wales.

For further information on how to support this cause please email Di Reynolds on reynol509@aol.com. For information regarding balloon flights visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk .

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By Eve, September 15, 2011 4:27 pm

It must be poetic justice that this beautiful white dove decided to pay us a visit at our Shaftesbury hot air balloon launch site this morning.

We often refer to our balloon rides as providing our lucky passengers with a unique “bird’s eye view over beautiful Britain”.

As if by magic, this solitary pure white Dorset dove decided to give us a little display of bird-like friendliness against a backdrop of a stunning cloudless blue sky to prove that it too admires the view from a balloon, in this case from right at the very top!

Hanging around to watch the post-flight Champagne toast enjoyed by the 10 Shaftesbury passengers;

“the dove remained perched on top of the balloon for over an hour and half and only decided to fly away once the balloon was being deflated”.
- said pilot Simon Redman.

During this time it was possible to view a pretty silhouette of the dove through the red fabric of the balloon, clearly seen below.

We can only assume that on this cool and misty autumn morning the warmth from the hot air inside the balloon provided our dove with a welcome warming perch for its feet.

To fly with Simon over fabulous Dorset from just £99 visit our website virginballoonflights.co.uk.

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By Kirsty, September 7, 2011 12:28 pm

Joe Churcher, 39, from London, was on route to catch a train home on Friday evening when this spectacular sight caught his eye, a Virgin hot air balloon.

“I was alerted, by a crowd of
animatedly pointing tourists stood
outside a shop, to  the presence of an aerial attraction. Looking up to see the balloon making its majestic way over Oxford’s spires, I reached for my camera and took some shots of its voyage using Oxford Castle as the foreground. As it disappeared behind the battlements I was about to head off to the station when it occurred to me that it was about to reappear between the crenellations so I hung on and snapped it,” said Joe.

Joe, who works as a political journalist, enjoyed his very own airborne adventure a few years ago with his father. Whilst gliding above the Hampshire countryside, Joe also snapped this picture below.

“The contrasts of immense peace
and intense burner noise, the views, the  nervous excitement at being able to see exactly what it is that’s holding you in the air. On the flight I took a bird’s eye view of the Hampshire farm we had recently discovered had been worked by our ancestors – as well as Roman Abramovich’s half-constructed mansion!”

For further information about flying from Oxford please visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk or call 01952 212750.

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By Kirsty, September 6, 2011 11:56 am

The wait is finally over for Lovedbyparents.com fans, as the site announced the winners of their
hugely popular parenting awards.

Virgin Balloon Flights sponsored the ‘Blogger of the Year’ award for 2011 with a spectacular pair of flight vouchers for lucky winner Katy Earley who writes www.modernmummy.co.uk.

Tina Summers Editor of Lovedbyparents said, “We were thrilled that Virgin Balloon Flights agreed to sponsor Blogger Of The Year  2011 and delighted that they provided the prize of a Balloon Flight for winner,  Katy.”

Hundreds of products were entered into each category and thousands of people cast their votes for their favourites. Social media sites were buzzing  with excitement yesterday as the awards were announced throughout the day.

All products were tested by a group of real parents and shortlisted before opening the final decision to the public votes. Winners were provided with a prestigious Gold, Silver or Bronze Lovedbyparents Award badge.

Gold Winners included Maclaren for Best Pushchair, Babybjorn for Best Babysling Leapfrog for the Best Activity Toy and Pampers for Best 
Disposable Nappy.

Special award winners included Wendy Shand of Tots To Travel who scooped the first FabWoman Of the Year Award. An award that was created to celebrate women who have been inspired to create a
business as a direct result of becoming a mother.

”We have been delighted by the response and support of our very first year of parenting awards and would like to thank all of our readers for their enthusiasm and continued support. It is fantastic to see such great products with an award that is genuinely lovedbyparents,” added Tina.

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By Alex, September 1, 2011 2:00 pm

Congratulations to our chief pilot and director Kenneth Karlstrom who won the prize for top pilot at the famous Lorraine Mondial Air Balloons event held near Metz, France, in late July.

The experienced Swedish flyer beat 120 other pilots by scoring more points in the competition to drop markers onto targets or ‘goals’ on the ground, which required some real precision flying.

After an excellent display in his light and nimble Virgin ‘77’ balloon, Kenneth picked up an impressive glass trophy and a massive bottle of Champagne.

The event also broke the world record for the largest line-up of inflated balloons with 343 in a row all at once leading to a spectacular mass launch.

Kenneth said he was delighted with the victory and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

Join Virgin Balloon Flights for a hot air balloon ride over Britain