Richard's Blog - September 2012

The Big Climb

Having been a bit of an adventurer, it is wonderful when your children grow up and you realise they’ve caught the bug. Initially I invited them along on adventures like attempting to break the Transatlantic sailing record or kite-surfing the English Channel. On this occasion they were kind enough to invite me along as they launched their wonderful charity - Big Change - to help make a difference to kids less fortunate than them and their friends in Britain. One day Holly and Sam told …

Cover Drive, Caribbean & chat-up lines

I’ve always loved music from the Caribbean. Cover Drive are a group from Barbados that have caught my eye recently.This video from Virgin Red Room got me thinking about chat up lines. Cover Drive’s attempts aren’t great, though! Having said that: “I like long walks on the beach, holding hands with that special somebody,” is quite sweet. What’s the best (or worst) chat-up line that you’ve heard, or used? Have a great Friday everyone. Who knows, you m…

Interviewing Bryan Stevenson

We had the great privilege of having Bryan Stevenson come join us at Necker recently. I wanted to talk to him ever since I saw his incredible TED Talk. I decided to interview him, and you can watch the whole discussion below. Bryan runs the Equal Justice Initiative, a non profit organisation headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama that raises awareness about some profound injustice in the American system. He confirmed many atrocities I had already heard of through my work with the Global Commission…

End shark finning in Costa Rica

Although shark finning has been banned in Costa Rica since 2001, a loop-hole has meant this legislation is proving impossible to enforce. As a global leader of environmental protection, we look to Costa Rica to provide an example to the world in stopping the cruel practice of shark finning. Shark numbers are dwindling and these beautiful creatures are dying pointless deaths. They are pulled along fishing boats, their fins cut off, and left to die a slow death. Together with former Costa Ric…

Underwater asteroids & stunning Saturn

There has been a huge amount of interest in our recent posts on space - seems all of you are as excited about the future of space travel as we are!Here's another video that caught my eye. This one explores how astronauts train underwater to prepare for working on asteroids. Who knows maybe one day Virgin Galactic astronauts will be training with Virgin Oceanic!Meanwhile, up in space we spotted some fantastic new images of Saturn and Titan. If you're in need of some inspiration, take a look at …

Sea Orbiter

To paraphrase Jean-Michel Cousteau, one of the OceanElders: by protecting the ocean, you are protecting people.So I’m really glad to hear that construction on Jacques Rougerie’s Sea Orbiter, an amazing new adventure to explore and understand our ocean, is due to begin in October. Hopefully our Virgin Oceanic sub can one day pay Sea Orbiter a visit! Image by Sea Orbiter on Facebook…

Thanks for the music John!

Without John Peel, we may not be sitting here today. When he played Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ in full on the radio, it set in motion the journey Virgin is still on to this day. I spoke recently to John Peel’s Virtual Record Collection - a great project turning his vast music catalogue into a public archive - about John’s influence on the Virgin empire.  Yet while a lot of people reminisce about what a fine DJ John was, few younger people have ever be…

Magnificent Northern Lights

Some of the most stunning Northern Lights photographs I have seen. One day we hope to be flying our Virgin Galactic spaceship in to the magnificent Northern Lights. Images by Norman Tam

Do something positive

In business as in life, all that matters is that you do something positive. Image by Jack Brockway

Congratulations Andy Murray!

Congratulations Andy Murray! What a champion. Well played Novak Djokovic too. What a match. Incredible US Open final. Image by Andy Murray Facebook

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