Richard's Blog - May 2012

#dontforgetyour adventure

Here's a fantastic video made by @kasssabanana of her #dontforgetyour adventure! Glad you had fun with Virgin Atlantic & London town! We'll let you know when the next #dontforgetyour competition is here...

Mort, our baby lemur

Mort, our baby lemur, finally left its mothers tummy recently and climbed on to her back. Mum celebrating by eating her favourite, the Tamarind fruit. Photos by Charlie Smith

Kitesurfing for the Olympics!

Delighted to announce kitesurfing has been selected as an Olympic sport. It has just been accepted by the ISAF after a 19/17 vote and there will now be kitesurfing at the Rio Olympics in 2016. This is fantastic news for my favourite sport and kitesurfers all over the world. As we build up to what promises to be an incredible Olympics in London this summer, it is perfect timing too. Well done to everyone who has worked tirelessly with us campaigning to get kitesurfing accepted as an Olympic sport…

OceanElders in New York

In New York for an OceanElders meeting with Queen Noor, Ted Turner, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Silvia A. Earle and others to discuss all aspects of saving our wonderful oceans.We’ll be looking into areas as diverse as species conservation, bottom trawling, plastic, water levels and biodiversity.This is our second OceanElders meeting and there is certainly plenty to discuss, from conservation of the Arctic to fundraising for ocean non-profit groups.Thank you for all of your suggestions for what …

Congratulations Claire Lomas

Congratulations to Claire Lomas for her outstanding effort in walking the London Marathon in aid of Spinal Research. It is an inspirational story of a lady who just won’t give up. Claire was paralysed five years ago from the chest down after a horse riding accident. Though she cannot stand, let alone walk - without the aid of her pioneering robotic suit - she has undertaken to walk the 26.2 miles of London's streets step by step. Incredible courage.She is averaging just a mile or so a da…

Cycle Slam

Sam here. In Italy for the Virgin Media Cycle Slam with Lawrence Dallaglio and Freddie Flintoff. Start this morning. Three weeks and 1500km through North Italy, over the Swiss Alps, over the French Alps, to London. Flew over lots of snowy peaks  on the way. Nervous and excited! This is going to be brutal.We will be climbing twice the height of Everest in 14 days!Raising money for three great charities, The Dallaglio Foundation, The AF Foundation and Virgin Unite. Looking forward to the chal…

Mayor Nutter

Caption comp time! Here's Mayor Nutter and me greeting Virgin America's first flight to Philadelphia. Quite apt for today! Tweet me your caption, or post it below. I'll retweet my favourite entry.

The war on drugs debate continues

Gratified to see the debate on the drug war is going on across the political spectrum.The Globe and Mail ran this editorial and a Q and A with yours truly. The WSJ ran an interesting piece by Mark Kleinman of UCLA and others. He says we should focus policies - for alcohol and other drugs - on users who behave badly, like repeat drunk drivers. Those people - a fraction of the 20% who make up the majority of users - should be denied access to alcohol or drugs. I question Kleinman's view that we sh…

Postcode Lottery Green Challenge

Social entrepreneurs with the next breakthrough idea for reducing CO2 emissions should enter the 6th annual Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge - entries are now open and you can enter until July 31st. And the prize for the best green business plan? €500,000. Runners-up could get €200,000. Plus mentoring to bring your business idea to market. I was juror for this prize and was inspired by the many great business ideas for reducing carbon. www.greenchallenge.info.…

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