School children set new World Record with fundraising event
Howard Lake | 19 June 2004 | News
A new Guinness World Record for the Biggest Sleepover has been established this weekend by school children, Scouts and Girl Guides taking part in the Giant Sleepover fundraising event.
Four hundred and sixty one sleepovers took place in school and Scout halls across the UK from 6pm on Saturday 19 through to 9am on Sunday 20 June with an estimated 12,000 children sleeping over. Over 4,000 adults also slept over to supervise the events.
The event, held for the first time this year, will establish a new Guinness Book of World Records mark for the Biggest Multi-location Sleepover. It will have raised over £100,000 for schools, Scout groups and other charities.
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One Scout group in North London raised funds for Shelter and spent the night in cardboard boxes; another group spent the night on HMS Bristol in Portsmouth Harbour; and pupils of Langford Primary School, London, spent the night at their school, built on the site of a war hospital, and said to be haunted by the ‘Grey Lady’.
The Giant Sleepover was the idea of Steve Malkin, 38-year old father of three from Sevenoaks Weald in Kent. “It is a free-to-enter event, designed to be fun for kids and an annual fundraising event for parent teacher associations and volunteers from scout and guide groups,” he explained.
“There is so much pressure on parents, teachers and scout leaders to raise funds, we wanted to create an event that they could tap into and make their life a bit easier. We sent out an Organiser’s Sleepover Guide Pack and a Treasure Chest full of free products for each sleepover. We have been overwhelmed with the response and success and hope to make the event even bigger in 2005.”
The Giant Sleepover was supported by sponsors including Sainsbury’s Blue Parrot Café healthy food range, Tomy’s fast-paced Rummikub numeracy game, Aero Products self-inflating beds, Top Tumps and the Twits Roald Dahl card games by Winning Moves, Lil’ Moo Organic Cheese from Dairy Crest, Capri Sun Juice, Fridgeplay, Sheraton Hotels and Thames Water.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.