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Any social that starts with shiny red balloons and ends with prizes is bound to be a winner – and 99 Red Balloons didn’t disappoint.

Once again the Cartmel spirit showed itself as we started the evening in The Winning Post, where, to get us in the mood, we were accompanied by the cheery sound of the hit ‘80s song from which our floaty social took its name.

The group moved on quickly, a crowd of bright red moving up through Lonsdale, Pendle and Fylde bars, spending extra time in Pendle to make up for poor Grizedale. It was a group effort as everyone valiantly attempted to keep their balloon safe, chant college tunes, and drink at the same time!

Ending up in Furness bar, it was birthday boy Robbie Pickles’ job to select the prize draw winner – the very lucky Natalie Vickers. Like something from a gameshow, she had three envelopes to choose her prize from and then the option to gamble and pick another, like a more balloon-y version of Deal or No Deal. As if we needed more to distract us from our work besides Facebook, there was a portable DVD player, iPod shuffle and a digital camera up for grabs, from which Nat bagged herself the shiny new DVD player.

Later on the majority of the crowd moved onto Hustle with its drinks offers, and bouncy music for the rest of the night.

As Cartmelians partied away into the wee hours, coming home tired and happy, one thing was clear: Cartmel once more proved its ability to have awesome and distinctive socials!

– Amy Loddington – Editor