Much of the allure of ballooning is the awe-inspiring chance to see Britain’s vast and diverse landscape from a unique perspective.

Here at Virgin Balloon Flights, we know just how important the countryside is to all of us. That’s why we’re celebrating National Countryside Week with all our staff, customers and the wider public through our Love Our Landscape campaign.

We’ve made a number of promises to help protect the British countryside, focusing on three main areas of Wildlife, Woodland and Farm Life. Basking in the hot sunshine this week, our countryside certainly looks spectacular and it’s the perfect chance to get out and about enjoying rural Britain.

National Countryside Week, championed by The Prince’s Countryside Fund, aims to raise awareness of the importance of the countryside to the UK and to recognise the people and organisations that work all year round to maintain and promote our landscape.

A large number of events are taking place across the country to celebrate the week and full details are available on The Prince’s Countryside Fund website.

Here’s a pick of our favourites:

  • We love The Royal Welsh Show, which starts today and runs until Thursday, in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells.
  • Try your hand at dry stone walling at Saturday’s Penrith Agricultural Show, which includes classes for beginners and professionals.
  • Get your taste buds roaring at The Fodder Food Hall, run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate from today until Friday to champion the very best food and drink from the county.
  • Families can find out about a working farm at the FACE and The Arthur Rank Centre Family Farm Open Day in Coleshill, Birmingham, on Wednesday. The event includes a nature trail.
  • The First Annual Beer Festival at the White Horse in Upton, Norfolk, will give people the chance to try local ales and ciders from a variety of brewers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Of course, we can all enjoy celebrating our countryside, but we also need to take action to protect it.

Gardening journalist Alan Titchmarsh has called for people to actively support our farmers and growers.

He wants people to grow their own produce, plant flowers to attract bees and butterflies and get involved with outdoor pursuits. If you want to talk further with Alan Titchmarsh about his ideas, he’s just one of the celebrity ambassadors for The Prince’s Countryside Fund that you could win a day with.

The charity is offering people the chance to have lunch with the celebrity gardener at the Chatsworth Country Fair, try out dry stone walling with rugby superstar Phil Vickery or even win tickets to the Big Festival and backstage tour with musician and award-winning cheese maker Alex James.

For a chance of winning this amazing countryside experience, see here. (This link no longer exists)

If we all do just one thing this week to celebrate Britain’s glorious countryside, we can make sure it stays a thriving part of our economy for generations to come.

It could be something as simple as attending a farmer’s market, visiting one of Britain’s 15 National Parks or deciding to volunteer with The Wildlife Trusts.

The most important thing is to get out there, enjoy it and Love Our Landscape.