A MEMORIAL balloon that drifted more than 100 miles across the sky has brought a £1,000 present to poorly children.

Paul Adamson released 18 red balloons on Christmas Day to mark the 18th birthday of his son Jamie, who died aged five after suffering cancer and meningitis.

Mr Adamson pledged to give money to children with serious illnesses in each area the balloons end up, including in Oxfordshire after one found its way to Abingdon.

Mum-of-one Lisa Baldwin spotted a scrap of the balloon hiding among leaves on December 30, when she was walking near her home in Geoffrey Barbour Road.

The 38-year-old said: "I looked down and saw it at the edge of the road. I don't know why I even looked twice, it was basically just the knot that was left. It just caught my attention."

Mrs Baldwin noticed a tag tied to the remainder of the balloon, which had sailed across the sky from Mr Adamson's hometown of Barry in Wales.

It told her about his charity set up in memory of Jamie, Jam Fund, advising her to contact him to let him know it had been discovered.

Mrs Baldwin, a nanny, said: "It's a lovely and positive thing to do, thinking about other children. I really hope it does help give a little bit of something special; maybe a little present."

She contacted friend Sally Hall, founder of Abingdon children's charity Blue Skye Thinking, who suggested three children who will each benefit from £250. Mr Adamson is now hoping to find one more for the remaining £250.

Mrs Baldwin said she was particularly touched by the balloon project because of her six-month-old son Arnie.

She added: "Every day I worry about something happening to him.

"I don't know what the point was in me finding it but I do believe in fate and feel there is some reason for it."

Former Navy serviceman Mr Adamson has raised £400,000 in 11 years through the charity, which supports ill children and children's hospitals across the UK.

The factory worker, 50, has released balloons every Christmas since Jamie's death on January 20, 2003, which struck after a two-year battle with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

He vowed to carry out the ritual from Jamie's graveside until 2016, when he would have been 18, and added the charity's tags in 2014 to help other children.

He said: "I know it sounds silly but I like to think Jamie is guiding them to where they are most needed."

On Wednesday night he learnt that another balloon had been found in Postcombe near Thame.

Anyone who wants to nominate a poorly child for the grant can email Mr Adamson on jamfund@sky.com.