To mark the Diamond Jubilee Kick Start Fakenham released 120 red, white and blue balloons. Picture: Ian Burt
PICTURE GALLERY: Jubilee balloon race in Fakenham
Monday, June 4, 2012
9:24 PM
Kick Start Fakenham held a diamond jubilee balloon race today when 120 red, white and blue helium balloons were released at Millennium Park.
Kick Start Fakenham vice chairman Sean Mears said: “It has gone brilliantly. There has been lots of people here in the park having fun and this is exactly what we wanted.”
Children from Fakenham Junior School and Fakenham Infant and Nursery School released the balloons at 4.30pm.
Companies and individuals sponsored the balloons at £5 each .
The person whose balloon is reported to have travelled the furthest will win a prize of jubilee goodies, which has been provided by Aldiss.
Money raised will go towards running costs of this year’s Fakenham Fair.
Meanwhile, as their contribution jubilee celebrations the 2534 (Fakenham) Squadron Air Training Corps will parade in the Market Square for a formal inspection by Fakenham mayor Janet Holdom at 7.30pm on Wednesday.
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2 comments
Balloon releases are harmful to the environment, to wildlife and to domestic animals, as I outline in an article, "A salutary lesson in the perils of inflation" which you can find by Googling for "birdguides balloon release". Perhaps the balloons were biodegradable - but, as my article shows, even biodegradable balloons can last - and do harm - for a year or more. Organisations who oppose balloon releases include the Marine Conservation Society, the RSPB, the RSPCA, the National Farmers' Union, the Shark Trust, the Tidy Britain Group, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Tidy Wales, Tidy Northern Ireland, Clean Cornwall, county bird clubs, various Wildlife Trusts, the Bumblebee Trust, The Soil Association, The Waterways Trust, The Terence Higgins Trust, The Alzheimer's Society, and others, plus companies including Sainsbury's, Norwich Union, TGI Fridays, M&S and Barclays. The Guinness Book of World Records no longer recognize balloon release records "precisely because of environmental concerns". To their shame, Kick Start Fakenham ignored both local objections and those of several of the august bodies listed above, and went ahead anyway, teaching young people that littering is acceptable; even in the heart of Norfolk's widlife-rich habitat, and close to the sea
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Andy Mabbett
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
No different to fly-tipping , just littering the countryside with non bio-degradable plastic.Causing the deaths of birds & other animals by choking.
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Colonel Grumpfuttock-Horseposture (retired)
Tuesday, June 5, 2012