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By Kirsty, November 28, 2011 1:58 pm

53 year old Richard Shaw of Batley, West Yorkshire took to the skies recently in his Dudek (Polish) Reaction, a 31 square metre reflex paramotoring wing, and met one of our lovely Virgin hot air balloons up there!

The father of four, who has been paragliding/paramotoring since 2003, took off from a farmer’s field in Snaith near Selby with three other pilots before seeing us in the sky. Richard has already flown in a balloon with us from York so has seen the beauty of ballooning from two wonderful different viewpoints.

Recently becoming semi-retired from his role as an electronics engineer Richard has spent all his time and efforts organising the British Paramotoring Championships and has this year taken on the job of team leader to the British Squad for International and World Championships abroad.

Speaking of his encounter with Virgin Balloon Flights over the Yorkshire landscape Richard said ‘I’m just interested in all things that fly!’, how could he pass on an opportunity to take these fabulous snaps?

You too can take to the skies with Virgin Balloon Flights from York or any other of our 100+ launch sites, for further details please visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk or call us on 0844 8448070.

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By Eve, November 17, 2011 4:55 pm

The 16^th November 2011 saw the first ever global Virgin Social Marathon, a groundbreaking event that took place around the world bringing together all sorts of digital types from Virgin offices near and far all working together for a day-long event at the Facebook office in London. Starting in Australia, then over to the UK and South Africa and finally ending in LA, California at Sir Richard Branson, Eve Branson and Virgin Unite’s event Rock the Kasbah.

The aim of the day was to reach out to our fans and followers across all of our social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ with the theme and hashtag #FirstTimes. A fun packed and fast-typing day, we started posting and tweeting in the UK at around 6am and continued through until almost midnight.

With Mini Draws of lots of Virgin goodies up for grabs plus a Grand Prize including 2 hot air balloon rides, an Aston Martin experience day, a 1 year membership to Virgin Active, a Virgin London Marathon place and a Virgin Media TiVo box to name but a few, getting all of our social media fans entering and playing with the brand new app Virgin First Times was great fun.

In keeping with the theme #FirstTimes and to mark the the launch of the new app, we asked some of our colleagues here in the Virgin Balloon Flights office to share their ballooning first times with us.

“Describe your first balloon ride in three words?”

“What did you think of your first balloon ride?”

First Timers

We also wanted to know what our colleagues have been up to for the first time lately – here are some of their firsts:-

“Became a Dad” – Alex F, “Produced work for my very first public exhibition” – Ben H “Saw Bruno Mars in concert”- Sophie E “Bought my first home with my fiancé” – Caz S “Attended a Management Board meeting” – Ryan L “Skydive!” 10,000ft of pure nerves” – Liz M “Planning a Vegas wedding. Won a comp to go to SA with @RichardBranson” – Kirsty M

If you fancy flying in a balloon for the first time, please visit our Experience page where you can learn all about what’s involved on a Virgin Balloon Flights ballooning adventure.

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By Kirsty, November 16, 2011 10:55 am

Well, Alex’s challenge to do 50 First Times in Five Days for Virgin Unite leading up to the Virgin Social Marathon today (16th November) is certainly allowing him to develop his skills!

His next 10 #FirstTimes have included ballroom dancing, a Zumba class, flower arranging, knitting, having his legs waxed, a facial, a spray tan, working in a call centre, attending a fitness class and a work out at an outdoor gym! Follow his progress on Twitter @alexrferg @virginballoons

See the latest pics below:

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By Kirsty, October 26, 2011 6:18 pm

One of our lovely Staffordshire launch sites Amerton Farm & Craft Centre, has a brand new addition to their farmyard family! Following the noise down into the farm, you’ll meet Marge the donkey.

Marge was born a year ago in Fradswell and she has moved to Amerton Farm to join the ponies and other animals in the farmyard. She has a lovely nature and is loving the attention she is getting.

Moyra McLaughlin, manager of Amerton Farm, said: “We always enjoy having new animals in the farmyard and to have a donkey like Marge is even more of an event. We hope visitors old and new will come along and visit her, she will definitely put a smile on your face! We are hoping that children will be able to enjoy a donkey ride during the school holidays next year.”

For further information regarding flights from Amerton Farm with Virgin Balloon Flights simply visit the launch site online or call Virgin Balloon Flights on 0844 844 8070.

Photo Marge aged 1 and 9 year old Elian Lawty

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By Alex, October 18, 2011 3:11 pm

One of our top hot air balloon pilots is walking on air after winning an award for his airborne achievements and being personally congratulated by Sir Richard Branson.

Mark Shemilt, from Henley-on-Thames, was named as our Virgin Balloon Flights Star of the Year for providing exceptional customer service for passengers on his balloon rides and breaking two world records for ballooning.

The 46-year-old received the award and met Richard at a glitzy party at Kensington Roof Gardens in London last month where Stars from across the Virgin Group were rewarded for their fantastic efforts.

Mark swapped stories with Richard who became synonymous with hot air ballooning in 1987 when he was the first to fly across the Atlantic.

Mark has been ballooning since 1988 and takes people on Champagne balloon rides in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.

He broke his first world record for duration by hovering over the French Alps in a special small balloon for over eight hours and another for distance when he flew 120 miles from Leicestershire to the Suffolk coast.

Mark said: “It was an honour to meet Sir Richard and talk about my ballooning world records with him as he knows more than anyone what’s involved and how challenging endurance flying is.

“He gave me a lot of praise and really encouraged me. He also said how much he loved hot air ballooning and that he wished he had time to do more.”

For more information about hot air ballooning experiences across the UK visit us at www.virginballoonflights.co.uk.

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By Kirsty, October 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Entrepreneur Marcus Shaw from just outside Eye, Suffolk, spent the end of last month with his camera pointed at one of our lovely red balloons in Cornwallis.

The balloon ride passengers, Marcus’ mother-in-law Judy, and husband Steve, were celebrating Steve’s 50^th birthday. Due to weather cancellations, the celebrations were somewhat delayed, but of course most definitely worth the wait.

“The flight took place in Norfolk on a beautiful Friday morning  (30th September). They really could not have had a better day, the weather was perfect! The light was fantastic for photography; there was even some low lying mist which made it even more magical. The preparations and getting ready started at 7am with take-off about 8am, about an hour later the balloon landed in a field just outside the town of Wymondham,” said Marcus.

Marcus, married to Natalie and father to three girls, took the plunge just 12 months ago to turn his keen interest in  photography into a professional service at affordable prices specialising in Portrait and Wedding Photography.

The full series of balloon flight photographs can be seen at www.marcusshawphotography.co.uk on Marcus’ blog. You can also follow Marcus’ ventures on his Facebook and Twitter pages.

You too can experience an airborne experience with Virgin Balloon Flights from Cornwallis or any other of our 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland & Wales. Simply call 0844  844 8070 or visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk

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By Eve, October 6, 2011 3:23 pm

Customer Service is always number one in the Virgin Balloon Flights office however this week it is even more in the spotlight as we celebrate National Customer Service Week 2011.

This week typically gives everyone in the office a chance to think about how they achieve customer service excellence in everything they do both today and tomorrow.

Working as a team is always vital here at Virgin Balloon Flights and Customer Service Week gives each individual a chance to pass on ideas and learning through various activities, challenges and group activities aimed at enhancing teamwork, collaboration and communication.

This year our team have been busy doing quizzes that get them thinking outside the box, building bridges in a team, creating various challenges for each other and things for a bit of fun like ‘Pyjama Day’ where one ‘lucky’ customer service representative was given the challenge of visiting a local garage to enquire about purchasing a vehicle, in her pyjamas – to see if what a customer is wearing affects what level of service is given, well it got a few smiles anyway which is always good in our book!

National Customer Service Week 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our customer service representatives handle all hot air balloon ride bookings for every single one of our 100+ launch sites throughout the UK – we are based in Shropshire which is nice and central as our launch sites are spread right from Scotland down to Cornwall and everywhere in between.

With the launch of our brand new website www.virginballoonflights.co.uk on October 1st 2011 Customer Service Week couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time as there has been lots to communicate to customers about the many improvements our new system brings.

If you’d like to talk to our friendly customer service team about an existing Virgin Balloon Flight or to enquire about becoming an airborne adventurer just give us a call or visit our new website.

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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 .