World Record Crafternoon

Here, World Records happen

We’re going for a Guinness World Records™ title, and we want you to be part of it.

Instead of receiving greetings cards for UCL’s 200th birthday, we’re making and writing them. 

It's our biggest Crafternoon yet: this is a chance to join hundreds of fellow UCL students, staff and community members in an attempt to have the most people decorating a card at the same time (in the whole world!). We've got the colouring pencils, collage materials, stickers and glue at the ready 🎨

Once your card is complete, you'll write a short, thoughtful message inside to brighten someone's day.  All of the cards will then be given to our local community partners, including Age UK Camden, who will pass them on to their beneficiaries. The goal? Spreading kindness, connection and a smile, straight from UCL students to our wider community.

No art skills needed and all materials provided. Neat cards, messy cards, and creative cards all welcome. 

The record rules

To qualify, we need at least 250 people to have made a card, so spread the word! Bring your friends along and help beat a world record together.

Rules:

• YOU MUST ALSO REGISTER SEPARATELY WITH GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ TO GET A QR CODE. Please register here to get your official QR code ahead of the event. 
• On the day, registration will open at 12:00 and close at 12:30.
• We'll scan your ticket and you'll be allocated a table
• Invigilators and stewards will be there to make sure everyone knows what to do
• Once everyone is seated, there will be an air horn to mark the start of the attempt
• You'll have a specific window of time to draw, collage or glitter your card - cards need to be complete within this time.
• Then an air horn will mark the end of the attempt and we wait while they double check numbers and give us the verdict. 
• Micro-volunteering is fun! We'll have music playing, you'll get to chat to the people at your table and it'll be a high-energy event

If we've broken the world record, we'll be told shortly afterwards so we'll celebrate in the Quad afterwards until 3pm! 

Plus you'll get a World Record Breaker sticker and certificate for taking part so you can shout about it afterwards 🌟

Key details

• Time: Registration will open at 12:00 and close at 12:30. The world record attempt will be complete by 2pm, with (hopefully) the certificate being awarded to us after that!
• Location: Meet at UCL's Main Quad to enter into The Wilkins Building through a specific route - you'll then be allocated a specific area to sit in. 

What is a Crafternoon?

Crafternoons are one-off volunteering opportunities put on Students' Union UCL that involve doing a fun creative activity for a good cause. It’s all about small actions making a difference to your local community, learning a new skill and meeting new people. You’ll always find friendly student and staff faces to make sure you feel welcome and supported. This isn't our first Crafternoon (we've done four this year), but it's certainly our biggest!

Where your cards will make a difference

Think about what receiving a card does: it makes you feel like someone was thinking of you, someone cares, someone reached out. The 250+ cards you craft will make a direct impact to older adults in our local community. 

Care homes supported by Camden Council and AgeUKCamden will distribute 200 cards to their beneficiaries, and 50 cards will also go to Holborn Community Association who work with isolated older adults through their Doorstep Help programme. 

What is a Guinness World Record?

Guinness World Records™ is the ultimate global authority on record-breaking achievements, documenting both human feats and natural world extremes. Established in 1955 to settle pub arguments, it verifies thousands of records annually across categories like sports, technology, and in our case, crafts!

Here's an example of a world record attempt for paper craft in Vietnam for an idea of what our event will look like: