15/10/2026
Here are all the details for our Virtual Snail Race.
- What is a Virtual Snail Race?
It is an online event hosted by a virtual balloon race website specifically for the Friends of Bottisham Village College, using balloon avatars in the shape of snails. There is a set start and finish time for the race and an algorithm randomly moves the snails every so often until the finish time. The snails that have travelled the furthest at the end are the winners.
- Why are we doing a Virtual Snail Race?
This is a fundraising event in aid of the Friends of Bottisham Village College to enable us to support the college through funding enrichment activities and additional resources for the benefit of its students. It is also a lot of fun to choose and name the snails and watch them 'racing'. We ran a Virtual Duck Race last year and even though it was a virtual event, it did help to create some sense of community involvement, which is another of our aims. Also, we know that parents and carers are very busy and can find it hard to get to in-person events or there might be financial barriers to participating. This is a relatively low-cost and low-effort fundraiser for participants, so it enables more people to get involved and to contribute to supporting the college.
- How do I take part?
To take part, visit the website https://balloonrace.net/fobvc and click on 'Design and buy balloons' on the right hand side. You will be asked to enter your name and email address, then you can choose a name for your snail, select which colour you would like (there are 6 options available) and leave a comment to cheer your snail on. There are filters to prevent bad language being using in the free text boxes. You can add additional snails by clicking 'add additional balloon' if you would like to. Then, when you are finished, click the 'create my balloons' box and it will ask for payment by card. Each snail costs £3. The Friends of Bottisham Village College receive £3 minus transaction and hosting fees we have to pay the website (at 12%) for each snail entered into the race.
- What are the prizes?
There are prizes for 1st (£30 Amazon voucher), 2nd (£20 Amazon voucher) and 3rd (£10 Amazon voucher) place, plus a prize for the best snail name (£10 Amazon voucher). All winners will also receive a few snail-themed goodies. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes will be determined by the website's list of finishing places. The best snail name prize will be decided by Mr Compton (Deputy Principal). All prizes will need to be collected from Bottisham Village College.
- Who can take part?
Absolutely anyone is welcome to take part, so feel free to invite grandparents, aunts and uncles, colleagues, neighbours, etc. Because it is online, distance is no barrier! They will just want to make sure that they can either collect their prize themselves from BVC or can ask someone local to collect it for them.
