Virtual Balloons Help Hospice Care this Christmas

Phyllis Tuckwell’s virtual balloon race is back, so buy your balloon now, create your design, and be in with the chance of winning £500 or an Apple iPad!

This eco-friendly balloon race is made up entirely of virtual, computer-generated balloons. For just £3 you can buy one for yourself, or perhaps as a Christmas gift for a family member or friend. You’ll be able to select your balloon’s colour, pattern, helium content and rubber thickness, and decorate it to make it personal to you, or leave it plain if you prefer. Then simply create a label for it and join the race!

The balloon race will start at Santa’s Village, Lapland, where the virtual balloons will be ‘released’ at 12.00pm (noon) on Christmas Day, to celebrate the festive season. Real weather data – such as temperature and wind speed – will be taken into account, and a simulated flight pattern will be created for each individual balloon. They will sail through the skies for seven days, and you’ll be able to login and track your balloon’s progress on Google maps. If you’ve bought the balloon as a gift for someone else, you can simply e-mail the link to them, and they can log in to see how their balloon is faring – a perfect gift especially if you are unable to meet up with friends or family in person at the moment.

“The simulated flight patterns will show how far each balloon would have travelled had they been real,” says Linda Jones, Fundraising Support at Phyllis Tuckwell. “If your balloon has travelled the furthest at the end of seven days, you’ll win £500 cash! Second prize is an Apple iPad, and the next ten balloons after that will each get a £10 book token. The race is being managed by Ecoracing, who are supplying the fantastic prizes which you could win, but we’ll also be awarding prizes for the top three Phyllis Tuckwell balloons which have travelled the furthest!”

Each balloon costs £3 to enter, of which Phyllis Tuckwell will receive £2.37. This money will go directly towards helping it to provide supportive and end of life care for local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. Just ten balloons could pay for an hour’s counselling for a relative who is facing Christmas without their loved one. So join the race, be in with a chance to win, and support local Hospice Care!

To join in, simply visit www.pth.org.uk/virtual-christmas-balloon-race to design and register your balloon. Good luck!