MY TWIN toddler daughters Jasmine and Bryony raced into the kitchen where I was cooking, squealing: "Mummy, balloon in the garden, please get it for us."
To our surprise, there was a tag stating it was a peace balloon that had come from Newman Catholic College in Harlesden in the London Borough of Brent.
After googling the address, we discovered that the school was around 40 miles away.
I explained to the girls: "It's a peace balloon and a school from the other side of London has sent it to remind people that they should be nice to one another – at least for a day!"
When I showed them the school on the computer, they agreed: "That's very nice Mummy."
It was a sweet gesture to mark the day and although the ink on the handwritten message had run, the printed tag asked for a reply, so we wrote how delighted we were to find the balloon and how we thought that focusing on peace at a young age has to be good for future generations.
The college's principal Richard Kolka later told me how his students had released 50 balloons on this year's International Day of Peace – Friday, September 21.
He said: "The sight of the white balloons sailing off into the blue sky was an inspiring one!
"It was amazing that one balloon made it all the way to Brentwood.
"The message of peace is clearly a powerful one!"
Mr Kolka also told me: "The children involved were thrilled to get a response and to discover that the balloon had travelled such a distance."
