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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, November 15, 2011 1:26 pm

Well, my challenge to do 50 First Times in Five Days for Virgin Unite leading up to the Virgin Social Marathon on Wednesday (Nov 16) has kept me entertained!

My next 5 #FirstTimes have included a 10 mile run, held a chicken, had an ice bath, drove a tractor and played an electric guitar! Follow my progress on Twitter @alexrferg @virginballoons

See my latest pics below:

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By Alex, November 14, 2011 2:02 pm

Well, my challenge to do 50 First Times in Five Days for Virgin Unite leading up to the Virgin Social Marathon on Wednesday (Nov 16) is underway.

So far, I’ve been hit with a custard pie (watch this on YouTube), learned some Swedish, had a family photo shoot, made pasta from scratch and rewired a light switch (with supervision from an electrician!) all for the very first time. But this is just the start – there’s a long way to go.

Next it’s a 10-mile run followed by a refreshing ice bath! Having my legs waxed and eating a banana split will be a doddle after that.

Follow my progress on Twitter, on Facebook and sponsor me on my Virgin Money Giving Page.

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By Alex, November 11, 2011 6:21 pm

Hi there,

I’m Alex Ferguson (the real one – not a certain grumpy Scottish football manager!) and I’m head of marketing at Virgin Balloon Flights in the UK. I’d love you to help me raise money for Virgin Unite.

When was the last time you did something for the first time? It was probably just this morning. Was it cool, fun, interesting, surprising, scary, disgusting or totally unforgettable? Life is made up of first times and the first time is often the best. Life also tends to be more fun if you’re open to trying new things, even if they take you out of your usual comfort zone. I’ve recently become a dad for the first time – so this has opened up a whole new world of first times!

Like life, there could be some hiccups along the way and this list may change a bit (some things are more difficult to arrange than others and some substitutes), but I will definitely do 50 Firsts Times and I may even add some bonus ones along the way…making myself look extremely stupid for your viewing pleasure.

I really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations.

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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 Kirsty, August 2, 2011 11:27 am

Virgin Balloon Flights have been supporting our friends at Virgin Media, who have raised a whopping £5,137 through a national staff raffle as part of their Charity Day on 20th July.

The raffle was a major element of Virgin Media’s first ever Charity Day and caused a lot of interest with generous prizes donated by us Virgin Balloon Flights, V Festival and Virgin Money. We sent off a pair of Champagne balloon flights to medias cause worth over £300! The national flight vouchers means the lucky winner can use them at anyone of our 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland & Wales and enjoy a glass of bubbles and receive a personalised flight certificate signed by their pilot post flight.

As well as the raffle, activities ran across 60 sites across the UK and 7 abroad, involving over 12,000 staff as well as partners, customers and members of the public. Initiatives ranged from Hawaiian fancy dress to hula hooping competitions to sponge-soaking of senior staff! The total for all activity across the day exceeded £45,000.

Local staff elections were held across the different sites to decide which charities were supported by the activity. There will be over 90 charities benefiting from the total sum of money … WELL DONE VIRGIN MEDIA!

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By Kirsty, July 20, 2011 5:53 pm

On July 18^th, Nelson Mandela celebrated his 93rd birthday! An amazing accomplishment to add to many others in this great man’s life. To honour Mandela; Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite encouraged everyone within the Virgin group to take part in Mandela Day 2011 by giving 67 minutes of their time to their local community.

Excited by the scope of what we could do, everyone at Virgin Balloon Flights HQ got to work on planning an even bigger and better celebration than 2010’s Mandela Day.

Thinking caps on, we brainstormed about all the different ways we could give back to our community and here’s what we came up with:

· We baked and sold beautiful cupcakes raising money for local community projects.

· We collected boxes and bags of jumble items including clothes, shoes, toys, books and bric-a-brac and donated to The British Red Cross, Katherine House Hospice and Compton Hospice. We even managed to get Staffordshire based designer dress agency Hush to come on board and donate old stock to our clothes box donations.

· Senior Customer Service Representative Sophie Ellis helped out family member Rachel to take her two young twin boys, who were born prematurely, to a hydrotherapy pool for the afternoon as community swimming pools are too cold for them.

· We litter picked around our office and tidied up the surrounding green spaces helping to keep the area cleaner for people to enjoy.

· We donated soft toys, music cd’s and children’s clothes to a brand new sensory room at local nursery Earlyworld.

· We collected and sent out 18 board games, a PlayStation, a box of PlayStation and computer games and two bags of educational and fictional books to a local after school club for children aged between 4 and 14 years.

· We mowed our neighbours’ lawns and helped out with gardening.

· We volunteered at local community project Sanktuary giving late night clubbers a safe place to wait for taxi’s or friends (and even gave high heel clad feet a rest with free flip-flops!)

· We gave two local students, one at GCSE level and one at A Level, the opportunity to complete a week’s work experience within the customer service and marketing departments at the company HQ.

· Accounts assistant Cheryl helped to organise and complete a day within her church community called ‘Messy Church’ where children enjoyed a fun-filled activity day playing games and eating ice lollies!

· Customer Service Representative Ryan Laing became a fully-fledged Street Pastor and completed his first night about town, helping to battle the issue of homelessness and poverty giving strength and support to those who needed it.

· Staff donated £2 each for a handmade bracelet by 11-year-old cancer sufferer Harry Moseley through his charity Help Harry Help Others – a fantastic inspiration to us all.

· We even got CEO and Chief Pilot Kenneth to help sort out our donations, don’t worry he didn’t really pack away office pooch and company mascot, Cookie the Pomeranian.

Once again all the staff here at Virgin Balloon Flights have thoroughly enjoyed their efforts for Mandela Day this year. We hope that each little bit of help or support has collectively made a positive difference within our community and we take our hats off to the people who work so hard to improve the lives of others all year round.

Here’s to another superb effort for Mandela Day!

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By Kirsty, July 14, 2011 3:17 pm

A group of Midlands based footie fans are playing a 12 hour football marathon next month in aid of Acorns Children’s Hospice and Virgin Balloon Flights flew in to give them a helping hand to raise some extra cash for their cause.

Richard Lewis, team manager & event organiser said “Last year myself and 6 others participated in our first 12 hour five-a-side football marathon on behalf of Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice. This involved us playing 12 different teams consecutively; with each opposing team playing only one hour to ensure their legs were fresh. With sponsors help, the event raised in excess of £2,600 for a worthwhile cause which justified our pain and injuries.”

“The setup is the same this year, another 12 five-a-side teams all against us. Only difference is this year we are supporting Acorns Children’s Hospice,” he added.

Hoping to better their fundraising total this year the boys are hard at work getting corporate sponsors to donate things, prize donations for  raffles and of course you can pledge your cash at http://www.VirginMoneyGiving.com/football-marathon2011

Keep your eyes peeled at their fundraising events for Virgin Balloon Flight hot air balloon rides and copies of Sir Richard Branson’s internationally bestselling autobiography ‘Losing My Virginity!’

Give the boys a helping hand to make life better for the children at Acorns through Virgin Money Giving.

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By Kirsty, May 31, 2011 12:17 pm

We’ve been in Scotland showcasing Amnesty International’s celebratory banner on one of our lovely  hot air balloon baskets with pilot Brad Smith.

Our beautiful Perth City Centre launch site was home to our basket for the morning with Pilot Brad on hand to hand out leaflets and talk ballooning. With lots of interest from local people we met a wee Scotsman eager to see what the basket looked like.

Two year old Craig Laing, who lives in Perth, was visiting the North Inch open fields to feed the ducks with Grandma Etta Laing. We couldn’t possibly let him leave without
a miniature Virgin balloon and a certificate signed by pilot Brad and endorsed
by Sir Richard Branson.

Let’s hope the Perthshire winds don’t take Craig and his bike to the skies!