Over Thirty five thousand children became world record breakers on the weekend of June 16th and 17th when they participated in the 4th Annual BT Giant Sleepover in aid of ChildLine. The event, which featured more than 960 sleepovers in schools, scout groups, guide groups and Boy's and Girl's Brigades across the country and is estimated to raise in excess of £50,000 for ChildLine helping the charity to move closer to its goal of answering every child's call.
This year's event set a new Guinness World Record for the world's largest simultaneous sleepover. It beat the 2006 BT Giant Sleepover which had set a Guinness World Record with 33,093 participants.
Developing young people's communications skills is a key
objective of the BT Better World campaign. During the Giant Sleepover, children were encouraged to take part in group activities, games and discussions to help improve their communications skills while bringing together 'fun, friendship and fundraising' on a night to remember.
'Going Green' was this the theme of this year's event. Children were encouraged to measure their carbon footprint before the event by logging on to the BT Giant Sleep-Over website and accessing a special carbon calculator. During the sleepover, the children were encouraged to share their carbon footprint results and discuss ways of reducing their personal impact on the environment through debates, games and puzzles.
BT's head of education and volunteering, Dave Hancock was delighted by how the event turned out. He said:
"BT's Better World Campaign aims to promote the voices of young people and inspire them to improve their communication skills to create a better world, so we are delighted to have been able to support the event again this year. It's wonderful to see the children having great fun and learning together. Not only were they able to raise their awareness about climate change, they also raised funds for other children who are in need of support."
As part of the activity, a brownie group from North Eltham slept over at the BT Centre near St Paul's London. The 19 brownies arrived on Saturday and went off for trips to the London Dungeon and Tate Modern.
Please visit for more details http://www.giantsleepover.com/
