IBMS officially part of Guinness World Records
The event was organised in March 2014 by Glasgow City of Science working with partners, including the Institute of Biomedical Science. 3,089 children from 36 Glasgow primary schools successfully smashed the existing one held by the Health Protection Agency in England of 2,147 children from 21 schools from across the UK.
The new record was officially declared at the Glasgow Science Centre on 20 March 2015. The event was attended by Jamie Hepburn the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health and some of the primary school children who took part in the event and who are now Guinness World Record Holders.
The presentation of the certificate also saw a number of activities take place involving the children, including a specially commissioned jingle for the children to sing, a hand hygiene relay, hand washing demonstrations, and of course the snot runway and some of the popular knitted microbes.
IBMS in Scotland member Diane Anderson was part of the steering group organising the campaign and presented with a certificate for the IBMS. Diane said:
"Last year’s event was an excellent and fun event with a serious message to children that good hand hygiene prevents disease and colds. Breaking the record was a wonderful tribute to all the pupils, teachers, student nurses and volunteers who helped with the success of this event. This includes all our IBMS members who knitted the very popular woolly bugs. They will be pleased to hear that the bugs have found new homes to remind children about hand hygiene and bugs!"
In the build-up to the event in 2014 knitters were asked to create and donate bugs and microbes for the campaign. The use of social media and images of cute and surreal knitted bugs was so successful that donations were received from all over the UK, and exceeded the planned target. The bugs and microbes were part of the hand hygiene kits left with the schools, which also included the lesson plan, a light-box and UV gel.
Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn, said:
"I am delighted to have been asked to participate in today’s celebratory event to mark the hand hygiene world record. Tackling and reducing infection in our hospitals and the wider community is a top priority for this Government.
"It is vitally important that all children are made aware of the importance and benefits of washing their hands properly and by encouraging them to do so, it will ensure this practice becomes a lifelong habit. We would encourage all children to pass on everything they have learned to their families and friends to spread the word.
"On behalf of my Ministerial Colleagues and the Scottish Government, I would like to congratulate all the children and organisations who were involved in this project. This world-breaking record has been a fantastic achievement demonstrating again that Scotland leads the way in reducing infections. Today’s award is very well deserved."
Professor Tracey Howe, deputy chair of Glasgow City of Science said:
"We are delighted that we have been successful in our record attempt and I would like to thank all the pupils, teachers and volunteers who helped us make it such a success.
It was important for us to leave a legacy in all schools and funding from the Scottish Government Health Directorate allowed us to provide all participating schools with a pack containing everything they would need to enable every child in their school to undertake the lesson each year. Thanks to this project, thousands of school children have a better understanding of good hand hygiene."