Chiswick Charity Calls for Volunteers This Weekend

Celebs joining Microloan Foundation to break Guinness World Record

The Microloan Foundation are calling on local people to join them this weekend at Chiswick Community School (9th/10th July) to help them make raise around £100,000 which will provide loans to 130,000 African women who want to start businesses.

They are already going to have the assistance of several well known faces including Gabby Logan, Niamh Cusack, and football presenters Ray Stubbs and Garth Crooks with hopefully 1,000 volunteers working 48 hours non-stop to place 50 miles of 1p coins across the grounds of the school - the equivalent of driving from London to Oxford.

The ‘Pennies for Life’ campaign aims to get the people of West London into the history books by collecting more than 4 million pennies.

“We are delighted to be involved in this ambitious attempt to create a Guinness World Record whilst at the same time raising money for a very worthy cause and placing the school where it belongs; at the very heart of the local community,” said Tony Ryan, Headmaster, Chiswick Community School. “Each form group has been given a target of raising £25.00 and students are being encouraged to give their time as well as money.”

“The ‘Pennies for Life’ Guinness World Record attempt needs to be a real community effort and we urge all our local West Londoners to join us at Chiswick Community School on 9th and 10th July,” explained Peter Ryan, CEO, MicroLoan Foundation. “It promises to be an action-packed fun day out for all the family, with an international food fair, children’s activities, raffles, live entertainment and a host of surprise celebrities!”

The ‘Pennies for Life’ event will be located on the grounds of Chiswick Community School which is situated on Burlington Lane, Chiswick. Limited parking is available. Attendees are urged to use public transport: Chiswick Station is 5 minutes walk and the E3 bus stop is directly outside school.

The MicroLoan Foundation is a UK microfinance charity that provides microfinance (small loans of about £70), business education and ongoing mentoring support to impoverished women in sub-Saharan Africa. This provides them with a “hand-up not a hand-out” so they can develop self-sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families, and work their own way out of poverty. 99% of the loans are repaid and then recycled in full to help more women year after year.

July 8, 2011