On, the 30th September, children of two schools in Camden, got together to tie 702 jumpers into the BIG KNOT, and raised £2,600 for the Trust. Please see their Facebook page for a lovely video of the event.
The money is going into the Zoe Trust’s Enrichmnet fund to support extra curricular activities and equipment. Already, playground equipment in the orphanges we work with are being revamped, sports equipment purchased, and a contribution towards a printer and photocopier at the school we collaborate with.
Organizer Naomi Brightwell wrote to the parents of the school:
CONGRATULATIONS! Friday’s BIG KNOT charity fund-raiser and Guinness World Record attempt was a resounding success. We had magnificent weather, a stunning Regent’s Park, well-behaved and enthusiastic children who were a credit to both Emmanuel and St Mary & St Pancras.
With Metroline providing the buses to transport us, the journey to Regents Park was quick and effortless. After being joined by St Mary & St Pancras and welcomed by a swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow the children got into Classes and played a few games. When the time came, each class knotted their jumpers together in one long line and began to form a spiral. As the line of knotted jumpers grew and were spun into one long spiral, our two official verifiers Jan and Tara began to count the jumpers, with Kerry measuring the overall distance from the first jumper to the last.
The children sat patiently and about 10 minutes into the count we announced that we had already counted 500, our minimum to set the record, and we were STILL counting! Several minutes later and 2 exhausted counters, we announced our final number of jumpers tied together: 702. AMAZING! And a total distance of 435 metres. FANTASTIC!
Captain Jack dismissed the children and each class went to play for a little while longer in Regents Park and the glorious sunshine. Hopefully the children returned proud of their achievement, exhausted and full of tales of jumpers, knotting and Captain Jack.
Thanks to…. The many of you who have given up so much of your time, donated prizes, made sure your children brought in their jumpers, helped in advance and on the day especially – Alistair (photographs and everything else); Kerry (for all your help on the sweltering day clearing the field with Claire); Eileen (photography and press), and all the class reps.
Also thanks to Ms Kilkenny and all staff at Emmanuel who worked tirelessly to make this a great success over the past few months and on the day itself – keeping those children safe, shaded and entertained and to Miss Bond and all from Class 4 who swept the field in advance.
And to: The producers of Shrek The Musical, Father Jonathan for his fundraising, Guinness World Record Team, David’s Deli for hosting our meetings, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jane O’Brien, staff, Slaney and PTA of St Mary & St Pancras, Coleridge School for their jumpers, Tara Shepherd – (Barclays Bank) Verifier & Counter, Jan Rushton – Verifier & Counter, Dutch & Dutch – sponsorship and balloons, Colour Print – printing certificates, Metroline – for supplying us with 3 dedicated buses there and back, Nandos and Pizza Express – for prizes, The Regents Park Team.
Bridget Swift, from Zisize, who administers the funds raised by the Zoe Trust said in her thank you letter to the schools:
Dear children and teachers and all involved in making the Big Knot happen. We were so overwhelmed by your success in raising such a lot of money for the children of Ingwavuma. The final amount was way more than we expected! The children of Ekukhanyeni Orphanage will be so excited when they get their sports equipment and stationery and books to help then with their homework. Other poor children in the community will also benefit so much from the fund that will be set up for school trips which they have not been able to go on in the past due to not having parents who have jobs. This is going to give them so much joy – and they will be especially excited to know that children in the UK have thought about them and did this for them. Please do send us a picture of the event we are so interested to know how you managed to tie the biggest knot of school jerseys ever! We will be sending you letters and photos soon. With much love from Ingwavuma, South Africa
Bridget Swift on behalf of the children.
