As part of Lewisham Peoples Day 2005, on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July, Lewisham and Greenwich CND held a balloon race. Participants released a helium filled balloon with a card asking the finder to post it back to CND.
There was a brisk north easterly wind on thoses days, and balloons were found across Surrey, Hampshire and as far at the Isle of Wight. Places where the balloons were found are shown on the map below.
The winner was Carrie from Laleham Road, Caford, who wins £20 of CND merchandise or a £20 book token. Other balloons were found as follows:
| balloon number | where it was found | player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckenham, London | Kathryn, Torridon Road, SE6 |
| 88 | Ashead, Surrey | Sophie, Alberta, Canada |
| 15 | Tadworth, Surrey | Yvonne, Catford |
| 82 | Hambledon, Surrey | Jeremy, Rocombe Crescent, SE23 |
| 51 | Lee on Solent, Hampshire | Ben, Davenport Road, SE6 |
| 77 | Ryde, Isle of Wight | Sarah, Elliot Park, SE13 |
| 28 | Chillerton, Isle of Wight | Carrie, Laleham Road, SE6 |
This race was a bit of fun. It also had a serious purpose in helping to fund young people from the UK go to the ceremony in Hiroshima commemorating the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb.
All balloons in the race were made of bio-degradable latex. Most balloons burst at high altitude, so that the pieces falling to earth are small. The pieces then degrade in a month or two. All balloons were also released without strings.
There is a concern about balloons that land in the sea, because latex degrades more slowly in sea water. In Australian waters, sea turtles have been killed by swallowing parts of weather balloons.
This is probably not relevant to our balloon race because weather balloons are made of mylar, and are not at all bio-degradable. Weather balloons are also silvery so that pieces can look like fish. There have been no reports of sea creatures being affected by pieces of latex balloons.