Balloon releases prove sky's the limit for Comic Relief fund-raisers in Derbyshire
A DOZEN balloons have been released to the skies for Comic Relief, with a donation promised for every one found.
Events to raise money for the charity, which helps some of the poorest people in the world, have been taking place across the county this week, ahead of the BBC One show tonight.
And one of the more innovative ideas has come from Aiden Allen and Joanne Nolan, who run child-minding firm A and J Childcare in Spondon.
Aiden, 31, explained their airborne scheme. He said: "We had sen in the news the story of a girl who had attached a balloon to a paper aeroplane and it had gone miles. It was found halfway across the world.
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"So we decided to do something similar."
Having got 12 balloons – one for each child in their care – the pair labelled them up with tags stating where the balloons had come from, what the purpose of the flights were and how to get in touch.
Aiden said: "We decided that for each balloon that is found and reported, we will donate £5 to Comic Relief and ask the parents of the child whose name is on the balloon to do the same."
Electronics firm Tioga, in Mansfield Road, Derby, is holding a range of events to try to raise some cash.
Angela Bond, from the firm, said: "We have a sponsored exercise bike ride all through the day. Most of the staff are taking part at 15-minute intervals. Then there's name the bear, guess the sweets and a raffle with some hampers as prizes."
And 10-year-old William Whitten, known in his school as "Mr Chatterbox", has raised more than £200 for Comic Relief by staying silent for four days.
William, a pupil at Foremarke Hall, Repton Preparatory School, organised the entire action himself – which has included using classmate Felix Horsnall as his assessor and speaker. Foremarke Hall head teacher Richard Merriman said: "It has been a genuine challenge for William to undertake four days of silence! He has taken the lead in recognising the plight of others and the excellent work of Comic Relief."
Other fund-raising activities include 62-year-old Terry Heeley, of Christchurch Court, Derby, walking to Market Place dressed in full drag. Meanwhile, staff at TK Maxx, in Kingsway, have trekked more than 1,000m up the face of Snowdon, raising about £1,000.
EVENTS: For our guide to events, see Related Articles, above right.
2 Comments
by Tulip00
Friday, March 15 2013, 10:37PM
“Great guy Terry”
by chadman
Friday, March 15 2013, 8:49AM
“Why do people release balloons, many of which fall into the oceans and are swallowed by turtles, dolphins etc? The balloons often kill them by starvation when they block their guts? Very thoughtless”