Tuesday, 28 April 2015 19:25

Primary school children attempt to write the World's longest letter

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Hundreds of children from schools in Cumbria, UK are coming together to write the world’s longest letter during National Stationery Week 2015. Writing messages on continuous rolls of paper supplied by James Cropper Paper, the letter will measure a huge 4800 metres long.

For anyone that has opened a telephone bill or bank statement and wondered if it would ever end, they haven’t seen anything on the scale of the letter being written right now in the north of England. School children in Kendal, Cumbria – nestling in the picturesque Lake District – have come together to write what will be the longest letter ever written.

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Initiated by local business and internationally renowned luxury paper manufacturer, James Cropper Paper, hundreds of children have set about writing the letter as National Stationery Week (27 April – 3 May) gets underway, on the eve of World Stationery Day (29 April). Each child will be writing a short message about what they love about their home in the Lake District, supporting the National Park’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status.

To begin the attempt, children gathered at Castle Park Primary School, Kendal – one of eight schools taking part - to write themselves into the history books.

jcwll2Helen Richardson, Head Teacher at Castle Park Primary School, said: “It will be a real challenge to fill such a huge piece of paper, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to inspire the children to write about what they love about the natural beauty that’s on their doorstep. Everyone is very proud to be involved. We won’t be marking their work on this occasion, but will keep a watchful eye over spelling as they go along.”

National Stationery Week has taken place every year for the past three years as a way of reminding people about the value of writing by hand and the remaining manufacturers of high quality materials for correspondence. James Cropper has supplied reels of its high quality Ambassador range for the challenge, a product usually reserved for the printing of corporate stationery and VIP invitations.

Tim Tidman, Product Manager at James Cropper said: “It’s all too rare to get a handwritten letter these days, so why not take it to the extreme and remind everyone of that simple pleasure? Having so many children living close to our mill be involved in this project is fantastic and it’s even more special that their words will go towards the Lakes’ bid for UNESCO World Heritage status. It’s been our home for almost two centuries and it still inspires our environmentally friendly, stationery papers.”

Once written on and signed by children and teachers, the eight reels of paper that make up the letter will be brought together and displayed at Brockhole, the Lake District Visitor Centre in Windermere, before being handed to the UNESCO bid team in 2016.

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