Join balloon race from Great Wall of China 

An international children’s charity, based in Norwich, has launched a virtual balloon race starting from the Great Wall of China and is asking supporters to join in by buying a balloon.

Care for Children works with governments in Asia to give orphaned and abandoned children the opportunity to grow up in good, local substitute families. It is aiming to see one million children moved from orphanages into foster families and will use money raised from the balloon race to fund this goal.
 
To take part supporters purchase a virtual balloon online for £3, customise it and then sit back and watch the race unfold.

The virtual balloons will be released from the Great Wall of China on Monday June 8 shortly after 12:00 pm BST.  The wind will blow, the rain will pour and over one week the balloons will fly or fall.
 
Throughout the race, the online event system will cleverly track where each balloon would have flown to according to the Yahoo Weather for the week.
 
During the race, supporters can login to their account and see the balloons flying over Google Maps and compare how they doing in the race.

There are three prizes up for grabs for the three balloons that fly the furthest: first place an Apple Store Gift Card (value £550); second place an Apple Store Gift Card (value £300); and third place an Apple Store Gift Card (value £150)

Race organizer, Nicola Ford from Care for Children, said: “There are currently millions of orphans living in institutional care around the world and we believe that they should be living in safe, loving families.  At Care for Children, we partner with governments in Asia who want to make this transition, but lack the tools needed to see it through sustainably.  
 
“Help us achieve our goal of seeing a million children moved from orphanages into foster families by taking part in our balloon race launching from China - a country where we have already seen an estimated 300,000 children moved into local, loving families.”
 
You must purchase and enter your balloons into the race by 12:00 pm BST (British Summer Time) on Monday June 8, 2015.  Each balloon costs just £3 and you can buy more than one balloon to increase your chances of winning.
 
Once you have bought a balloon, spread the word via social media by sharing your balloons on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest - and encourage your family, friends and colleagues to join in the race.
 
For full event details and to buy your balloon, visit www.rabr.co/careforchildren