1st Prize – £500 cash!
2nd Prize £iPad
3rd Prize – £10 book token
Please help us to buy resources for our peer education projects by buying a balloon 🎈 in our virtual race! Balloons cost just £3 each and you can enter as many times as you want! You can even customise your balloon. When the race starts, you can track your balloon online 🌎🎈🌍.
How It Works
STEP 1: CREATING AN ACCOUNT FOR OWNERSHIP PURPOSES
Before you can buy a balloon, you need to create an account here otherwise we do not know who has ownership of a particular balloon.
And your very balloon could win one of our brilliant prizes!
Each balloon costs just £3 and you can buy as many balloons as you want to increase your chances of winning!
STEP 2: ENHANCE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING
When you have created an account and bought a balloon, you can link through to your personal dashboard.
On the dashboard you can ‘customise’ each balloon by changing various parameters of the balloon size, shape and composition to enhance your chances of winning.
Reflecting real life, virtual balloons just like latex ones, can pop if the balloon parameters are not suited to the weather.
For example, maximising helium content in stormy weather is not advised, so looking at the predicted weather for your race period prior to customisation helps your chances of winning.
STEP 3: HAVE FUN DECORATING YOUR BALLOON
Lots more fun can be had decorating your balloon with all sorts of colours, patterns, and a personalised message.
Remember that you can return back to your dashboard and change elements of your balloon or redecorate as often as you like right up to a race launch time and date.
STEP 4: LAUNCH AND FLIGHT INFORMATION
Once the balloons are virtually launched, they are subject to a simulated flight pattern based on the actual weather conditions such as the prevailing wind speed and current temperature.
This simulation uses an advanced computer modelling programme linked to Google maps and a commercial weather data supplier, Aeris.
By clicking on ‘balloons’ on the race homepage, you will see the leading 100 balloons listed.
The information shows straight line distance travelled in kilometres from the launch point, plus the balloon’s latitude and longitude.
WINNERS AND PRIZES
All races are 7 days in duration and the winning balloon is the one that has flown the furthest in a straight line from the launch location.
Interestingly, a popped / burst balloon can still win if the wind direction changes and sends the still-flying balloons backwards in a reverse direction.
The winner will be emailed with confirmation that they have won the race and with details of how to contact the organiser to arrange receiving their prize. To further comply with Gambling Commission rules, the winner will be asked a difficult question not readily ‘Googled’.