When Archie Williams came with his mum to wave her off on a flight in one of our hot air balloons as a thank you for the work she and others in the balloon have done in the NHS over the last 18 months, he was shocked to be invited to join her. Chief pilot Kim Hull decided that the balloon still had a space and it was a shame to waste it. Archie had no time to think about it and this is what he told us after in a lovely card written by him mum on one page and him on the other. Emily works at the Maternity unit at Winchester hospital which of course has had lots of difficult situations to negotiate during the pandemic. It was lovely to read and put a smile on all our faces in the office here at Adventure Balloons. Thank you Archie...

Dear Adventure Balloons,

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to fly the other day. It was obviously very unexpected and only a few moments before you said I could fly, I had said I didn’t think I would ever do it, despite liking the idea as I have always had a huge fear of heights. So when you said that I could, it was so sudden that I didn’t have an option out of it, as I am very glad of, as it was an amazing experience.

I really enjoyed getting to see all above the countryside, along with being fascinated listening into all of the directions and observing the con-ordination of the flight among all four pilots.

Once again it was an incredible experience and one which I feel has not only helped my long running fear, but one which has also made me feel more confident to possibly fly again in the future.

Your kindness and generosity to my mum and myself is off he scale,

Thank you for the memories, Archie.