Herts school smashes world record for protests in a day

Students from Freman College break Mark Thomas’ record
 
Sixth formers from Freman College in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, today (22 March) at 4.22pm set a new world record for the number of protests in one day.

Working with Charing Cross police, members of the College’s Amnesty International group held 23 consecutive protests across central London – all highlighting a different human rights issue.

Comedian Mark Thomas set the old record on October 2006. He made 21 protests in one day, including one to stop MPs having more than one job and another to sack private tube contractors.

Freman College’s first protest today was outside the Tate Modern on Bankside at 9.20am and focused on the issue of maternal mortality. The students then weaved their way down the South Bank across to Victoria Embankment and through Trafalgar Square before ending in Whitehall, taking in issues ranging from the death penalty to imprisoned bloggers in Azerbaijan, and from pollution in the Niger Delta to torture in Iran.

Mark Trapmore, the College’s history teacher also helps run the Amnesty group. He took part in today’s world record, and said: “It was a fantastic achievement and we’re delighted to have set a new world record.

“It’s been great fun. We’ve had an Amnesty group at Freman College for many years and we thought that this would be the best way to help to raise awareness of a variety of human rights abuses that Amnesty works on.”

For more information about the route, the cases concerned or to arrange an interview with one of the participants, please contact the Amnesty press office.