“As the Virgin Unite Insider for Virgin Balloon Flights, the opportunities to use ‘business as a force for good’ are endless. When the chance of going to South Africa with Sir Richard Branson and his connection trip guests came my way courtesy of Virgin Unite, of course I grabbed it by the (Buffalo) horns and got packing!

A jam packed schedule allowed me to meet some of the most inspiring, motivated and dedicated people I’ve met in my lifetime; The Branson Centre Entrepreneurs, Jean Oelwang (The CEO of Virgin Unite), Dr Taddy Blecher (a pioneer of the free education movement in South Africa) and of course Sir Richard himself alongside his business mogul guests.

After a long flight with the superb Virgin Atlantic, a hotel check in and a stimulating meet and greet, I accompanied Jean, the connection trip guests and the Virgin Unite team to Newtown arriving at the Sophiatown Restaurant where we were delighted by African cuisine and guest speaker Dr Taddy Blecher. Post lunch we marvelled at Inner City Craft Initiatives and met ‘Prince’ an up and coming South African jeweller who designed & created the most interesting pieces of ‘junk’ jewellery. Who can resist a bracelet made out of a fork?!

From here we crossed townships to Constitution Hill. By far one of Johannesburg’s most moving sights. Originally a fort during the Boer War it later became an infamous prison housing many of South Africa’s most well-known resistance leaders and is now home to the Constitutional Court of South Africa. After a quick change we headed off to the Orient Restaurant and chatted over exquisite Chinese food before listening to more inspiring guest speakers.

Early the next morning guests enjoyed breakfast with Sir Richard before we travelled to Mzansi Designers Studio to meet Lesego Malatsi (a previous Branson centre entrepreneur) and saw his fashion house in full swing. We were later treated to seeing his first boutique shop in Maponya Mall too. We also experienced another previous Branson Centre entrepreneurs thriving business in Diepkloof, Soweto. A recycling plant started by Tshepo Nawane.

Inspired once more by the sheer determination and drive to create employment for local communities and to start businesses from scratch, we chatted to both Lesego and Tshepo en route to the grand opening of the Virgin Active Gym in Maponya. Greeted with steel drums, stilt walkers and Sir Richard, this feast of colour and sound gave the gym opening the atmosphere it most definitely deserved.

Departing the swanky new gym we lunched at Velo and chatted with Marious Minnie, the CEO of Southpoint and a partner and investor of the Branson Centre (BC) before crossing over to the BC to offer mentoring to the current entrepreneurs.

The pièce de résistance of the day was of course the Screw Business As Usual booklaunch at ‘Randlords’ where Richard spoke about his book alongside African children’s choirs and pure cultured entertainment. You can see my video montage of the #SBAU book launch here on our YouTube page.

After supper and wine back at the hotel with Richard and guests, it was off to bed before an early start to wave off the guests, Richard and Jean to Ulusaba for the next step of their trip. You can see Richards Blog about their game drive here. I spent my last day in South Africa with some of the Virgin Media Pioneers sightseeing and taking in some of South Africa’s most beautiful animals.

THANK YOU to Virgin Unite, Sir Richard, Jean and the rest of the team for the most amazing experience of my life. A trip I will treasure in my heart forever.”

Kirsty x

A Virgin hot air balloon has floated onto TV screens in the Ukraine after an unforgettable flight at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.

A lovely film crew from Inter TV came ballooning over Bristol with us as they covered the world famous event earlier this month.

A spectacular mass launch from Ashton Court gave them some wonderful footage and they interviewed pilot Mark Simmons about life as a balloonist.

They were also treated to a sensational performance by UK Queen of Soul Beverley Knight during an exclusive airborne session for Virgin Red Room.

See the film on the Inter TV website here

Join us for your own balloon flight in Bristol

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!

This week we went off to see Berrington Hall, one of our lovely Virgin Balloon Flights launch sites, near Leominster in Herefordshire; what a place to fly from!

This stunning neo-classical building designed between 1778 – 81 hosts much more than a pretty Georgian exterior. Steeped in history visitors can delve deep into the past life of Lord Crawley, his butlers and servants that have worked at Berrington Hall in years gone by. In the care of The National Trust since 1957,  this immaculate venue really is the picture perfect spot to start your airborne adventure.

Before, or after, embarking on your Virgin Balloon Flights hot air balloon ride from the grounds of Berrington Hall, you can take a walk around one of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s masterpiece gardens, grab a bite to eat or relax with cake  and coffee in the tea-room, or get some retail therapy in The National Trust gift shop.

With FREE admission to the house for Virgin Balloon Flights passengers on the day of their flight, what more could you want to make a super day out?

Once you have climbed aboard our 16 man balloon basket with Pilot Des Bimson, the wind will take you on a journey you’ll never forget. Aerial views of the elegant property and sweeping sights of the Brecon Beacons will greet you once your balloon is in-flight.

Wind willing, you’ll see the roof tops of Leominster, a historic market town, with  examples of fine architecture throughout the ages. Further south sits Hereford, the famous home of the SAS, which straddles the winding River Wye and has a magnificent 12th century cathedral at its heart.

What are you waiting for? To book simply visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk or call 01952 212750 to fly from any of our 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland &  Wales or from Berrington Hall.

Last week we blogged about 8 year old Olivia Staveley being the lucky winner of a pair of Virgin Balloon Flight vouchers for her superb entry into the Burnley Express draw dad competition.

The talented youngster was smiling ear to ear when she received her prizes outside the Charter walk Shopping Centre this week, let’s hope dad loved them!

Once again, well done Olivia!

Branson duo hit the streets to spur on over 36,000 runners

Sir Richard and Holly Branson made some noise at this year’s London Marathon to create the World’s Biggest Cheer which spurred on thousands of inspiring runners who have all pushed themselves to extreme physical limits for great causes.

After spending a month encouraging the UK to donate their cheers, the father and daughter team hit a giant buzzer which boomed over 10,000 cheers of support into the air causing runners and spectators alike to stop and stare – the nation’s cheers were all collated to create a collective shout-out to the runners and Virgin Balloon Flights are part of it!

Richard and Holly got involved in this year’s Virgin sponsored London Marathon from the sidelines, the ‘Cheering Zone’ was set up at the 19-mile mark after many of last year’s runners identified it as the mile where you are most likely to ‘hit the wall’.

Professional cheerleaders and live bands were also stationed at the ‘Cheering Zone’ to support the runners and excite the crowds.

Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said:

“This year’s runners have really outdone themselves and should be proud of finishing one of the world’s toughest marathons. Today just reminds me how the Virgin London Marathon makes everyone better off"

Check out the Virgin Balloon Flights cheers here by clicking on the Polaroid photo’s!

As part of Virgin Balloon Flights on-going efforts to raise money for Hope House Children’s Hospices through Virgin Unite’s ‘Changing the Course Campaign’, one of our marketing execs Kirsty Mills treated us all to 24 hours of complete silence!

“This is honestly one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! You really don’t realise how much you need to make noise to communicate. Not  everything can be answered with a nod or shake of the head and no one seemed to understand my hand signals.”

“In the end I used a white board and a marker pen, and took it everywhere with me, it even came to the gym, McDonalds and Sainsbury’s!” she added.

Kirsty’s 24 hours of silence and awkward communication through office hours and everyday tasks, bagged the charity just over £400 and a step closer to a £7000 finish.

With still a few days remaining to donate you can help make a difference by visiting virginmoneygiving.com/kirstymills

The unmistakable sight of a Virgin balloon in flight has once again been spotted on television and this time it was floating over Lancashire on BBC 2’s Oz & Hugh Raise the Bar.

The series follows wine expert Oz Clark and comic actor Hugh Dennis as they toured the UK to find the finest independently produced beers, wines and spirits.

One of our hot air balloons appears in the distance high above the Lancashire countryside as the pair sample some wine at the Mount Pleasant Vineyard, at Bolton-le-Sands in Carnforth.

This was in the third episode of the series which was on over Christmas and New Year and can be viewed here on the BBC’s iPlayer. Look out for our balloon around 19 minutes and 11 seconds into the show as it drifts over the vineyard on a hill near Morecambe Bay.

Our hot air balloon in Lancashire is captained by highly-experienced local pilot John Fenton and launches from sites including Burton in Lonsdale, Crook O Lune near Lancaster, Kirkby Lonsdale and Wray. Click here to go ballooning in Lancashire.

Yorkshire balloon pilot Dave Sutcliffe was bowled over last week as England cricketer Tim Bresnan took to the skies with him, just a day after beating Bangladesh in the one-day series.

Tim Bresnan and Hannah 3000 feet up!

The top Yorkshire and England bowler, 25, bought Virgin Balloon Flight vouchers as a surprise gift for girlfriend Hannah’s birthday.

“We’re both quite adventurous, and I wanted to think of something unusual to celebrate Hannah’s birthday. Neither of us had flown in a hot air balloon before so I bought the tickets and told Hannah the night before the flight,” said Tim, who is originally from Pontefract in West Yorkshire.

“I was quite nervous, but it’s actually very surreal when you’re up there, it’s a weird sensation and we really enjoyed it! We got to see horses, hares, deer and even a windmill,” he added.

Pilot Dave, 43, said: “It took me a while to realise where I knew Tim from, then I realised who he was when completing the passenger safety briefing. It was only the day before I was watching him help win the series against Bangladesh at Edgbaston.”

“All the passengers sang happy birthday to Tim’s girlfriend Hannah at 2,500 feet in the air. It was a great flight topped off with a Champagne toast after landing in Church Fenton.”

After England’s win, Tim will enjoy a week’s break before getting back on the pitch and a Virgin Balloon Flight was the perfect way to start his week off.

More information regarding Virgin Balloon Flights in Yorkshire is available here.

A Yorkshire balloon pilot got a spectacular first glimpse of this year’s York Maze as he took to the skies with a basket full of passengers who got exclusive snaps of the Battle of Britain inspired attraction.

Martin Collinson, from York, flies for Virgin Balloon Flights and launched from the city’s Racecourse flying east when they drifted over the commemorative maze last week.

Martin, who has been an employment officer for the Territorial Army for 25 years, said: “It is great to see people remembering the armed forces. The design is fantastic and the passengers really enjoyed it.”

The larger than life Spitfire design, which covers an area larger than 15 Wembley football pitches and consists of 1.5 million maize plants, is “a tribute to the servicemen of the country” according to maze owner Tom Pearcy.

“Each year we choose a topical event to motivate our designs and the 70^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain seemed perfectly fitting for 2010,” he added.

Balloon passenger Craig Mitchell, of North Yorkshire, said: “We flew with Virgin for my girlfriend’s birthday and were not expecting to get an exclusive view. We were so impressed with the maze design. Both my Grandparents were in the war, so it’s nice to see people recognising their efforts.”

Pilot Martin,43, flies champagne balloon flights from numerous launch sites in Yorkshire and hopes to thrill many more passengers with the Maze throughout the summer with the attraction open from July 17 until the September 5.

Find out more at www.yorkmaze.com or take a flight with Virgin Balloon Flights at www.virginballoonflights.co.uk

York Maze Spitfire design 2010