Seashell Trust are inviting people to support the charity by sponsoring a balloon to take part in a virtual race across the Sahara Desert.
The virtual balloon race is a new online fundraising activity for the charity, and is being run and administered by Eco Racing. As it is a virtual competition, there is no impact on the environment or risk to wildlife.
Balloons, which cost £3 to enter into the race, will set off virtually from Timbuktu and begin their journey across the Sahara Desert at 12pm Saturday 8th August.
All entries are in with a chance of winning a prize for the balloons that travel the furthest –
- 1st Prize – £500
- 2nd Prize – Apple iPad
- 3rd Prize – 10 x £10 Book Tokens
In addition to the main event prizes there will also have additional prizes for the furthest balloon purchased via the Seashell link. In order to manage the costs of the event, a number of charities are getting involved with the race.
Rather than just being a game of chance like a raffle, you can strategise on this by watching the wind activity and then choosing how much helium to put in your balloon and how thick to have your latex. Or you could just spend all your time deciding on the colour and pattern for your balloon and what to call it.
Fundraising Manager Wendy Bray shares some further ideas on how groups or businesses can involved with the competition:
It would be a great way for businesses to engage teams that might still be working from home or are just returned and get a bit of competition going. You could even offer a prize for the balloon that gets the furthest from your organisation to make it really competitive. Or just for the best designed one if that is more your style!
“Or maybe as part of your staff wellbeing you might want to buy balloons for every member of staff? You can gift balloons to other people, so they can then design their own.
“Plus it is only £3 per balloon so you could even have competitions amongst family and friends and buy one in every colour.”
It costs £3 to buy and enter a balloon in the race. 79.3% of each purchase goes directly to Seashell Trust, with the remainder covering administration costs of the event.
Further details about the virtual balloon race are available from the Seashell Trust website and you can sign up and purchase your balloon here.