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Guinness World Record makes the most of civil engineer’s skills

A voluntary project encouraging social inclusion through a shared goal achieved a Guinness World Record thanks to a display of origami hearts.

Led by the Sport Studies Society of Greenwich and Kent Student’s Union at Medway, volunteers made more than 53,700 paper hearts to break the record.

Held in the student hub of the Universities of Medway, the attempt was judged by specialists in their field, including Ilona Hurrell, the Rochester Bridge Trust’s Contracts and Project Manager.

Ilona was asked to co-adjudicate the event because her work as a civil engineer means she has a useful range of skills and expertise to count such a large number of hearts in a short time.

Ilona said: “Judging the event is just like a bridge inspection – you have to plan how you would meticulously account for individual items and it involves lots of large sums, mathematics and quantities – things we do all the time as civil engineers. It was a real joy to be asked to be involved in such a successful community project.

“Everyone who took part clearly gave it some real effort and should be proud of such a wonderful final display.”

The free event was prompted by Ian Farr, a PhD student of the universities’ School of Sport and Exercise Science, and is part of a wider campaign to raise money for two charities – The Molly McLaren Foundation and Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

You can find out more and try making an origami heart of your own by visiting the project page on Facebook.

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