Celebs get to grips with a new set of lines - 29 February 2004
...and show their hidden literary talent - to raise money for charity in world’s biggest poetry reading.An all star cast of celebrities including Graham Norton, Amanda Holden, Edith Bowman and Pop Idol’s Nicki Chapman will be helping the nation’s school kids with their lines next month. But they won’t be joining them in detention; instead they’re getting to grips with one of the most famous poems in the English language- all to raise much needed funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Daffodil Campaign.
At 9.15am on March 19, more than 200,000 UK kids will simultaneously recite Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’ in an attempt to smash the record for the world’s largest ever poetry reading, and raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Dubbed Words Worth Reading, the event is backed by Yellow Pages and organised by Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Wordsworth Trust, which is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the poem, written at Dove Cottage in the Lake District.
To help the kids prepare for the big day a host of celebs have also attempted to get their tongues around the nineteenth century verse on a special video produced by sponsors Yellow Pages. Up first is Nicki with top tips on how to deliver a sparkling performance, followed by Graham, Amanda, Edith and boy band D-side; Jerry Hall; Cold Feet star James Nesbitt; Phill Jupitus; Maureen Lipman; Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood from CBBC’s Dick and Dom in Da Bungalow; Newsround’s Ellie Crisell; ex-EastEnder Shaun Williamson and Hollyoaks’ Terri Dwyer.
Graham Norton said: "I never thought I’d star alongside Jerry Hall and Shaun Williamson, but I’m delighted to be involved in ‘Words Worth Reading’. Not only is this a fun way to raise money for a fantastic charity, it’s great for kids as they get involved in poetry and as an added bonus, they’ll be able to look themselves up in the Guinness Book of Records and see that they were part of a world record too. And it’s going to be pretty hard to beat - 200,000 is a lot of people reading poetry!"
Richard Duggleby, head of external relations at Yell, publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said "Celebrities have come out in force to back the campaign which is fantastic. We had a lot of fun making the video. It’s reassuring to see that even professionals fluff their lines - there are some great outtakes at the end of the film.
"And with Nicki Chapman’s involvement, as well as raising lots of money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, we might inspire a ‘Poetry Idol’ of the future."
The video will be sent to hundreds of schools taking part and every child involved will be asked to make a donation of 50p to Marie Curie Cancer Care. Yellow Pages' support means that funds raised will go directly to the charity, which provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give terminally ill people the choice of dying at home supported by their families.
For more information about the video please contact:
Jo Chappel, Giancarla Lanni or Simon Bear at the RED Consultancy on 020 7465 7700.
For more information about Words Worth Reading please contact:
Ali Moorby or Julia Sibun at the Marie Curie Cancer Care press office on 020 7599 7701 or Allan King at the Wordsworth Trust press office on 015394 35544.
Notes to Editors:
1. The current World Record for numbers of people reciting a poem at the same time is 3,701 and was achieved by children from 15 schools across the UK on October 5, 2000.
2. About Words Worth Reading
On March 19, 2004, more than 200,000 pupils from across the UK are aiming to smash the record for the World's largest poetry reading organised by The Wordsworth Trust, Marie Curie Cancer Care and sponsored by Yellow Pages. The event - Words Worth Reading - raises funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care's March-long Daffodil Campaign while celebrating the Bicentenary of Wordsworth's poem Daffodils, written at Dove Cottage in Grasmere. Yellow Pages' support means that funds raised will go directly to Marie Curie Cancer Care, which provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give terminally ill people the choice of dying at home supported by their families.
3. About Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages directories are published by Yell, a leading international directories business operating in the classified advertising market through printed, online and telephone–based media. Yell’s brands in the UK are Yellow Pages and Business Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 24 7 and in the US are Yellow Book and Yellowbook.com, all of which are trademarks.
4. The celebrity video is only available to the first 1,000 schools to sign up for Words Worth Reading
