Pupils complete 37,106 acts of kindness in one day

News imageBBC Three children wearing yellow high-vis vests are standing outside their school gates smiling at the camera.BBC
Some schoolchildren picked up litter to contribute to their goal

A group of 26 schools has completed 37,106 acts of kindness in a day – including donating to food banks, litter-picking and handing out cakes.

The schools across Somerset and Bristol, which belong to Futura Learning Partnership academy trust, said they were aiming to unofficially beat a Guinness World Record of 19,000 acts set in 2016 in Bristol.

Pupil Reuben, nine, brought cupcakes to teachers at Yeo Moor Primary School in Clevedon, and handed out signs with messages such as "you've got this" and "nothing's ever too hard".

He said: "Once you say something kind to someone, it will spread along and they will want to say something, it can spread along to hundreds of people."

News imageReuben is standing in a library holding a tray of cupcakes decorated with swirls of white icing. He is wearing a red T-shirt and is smiling at the camera.
Reuben, nine, brought cakes to teachers at Yeo Moor Primary School

Kirsty Jones, head teacher at Yeo Moor, led the project to teach the pupils about kindness.

She said: "It's been fantastic, everyone has got on board. We want to model kindness and ripple that kindness throughout our communities."

"Kindness is not just for today," Jones added.

"All the head teachers within their schools have done a lot of work around kindness and the benefits of kindness within their communities."

News imageA young girl with blonde wavy hair is standing in her school library wearing a white polo shirt.
Emily said being kind to people makes her happy

Emily, nine, said her year group donated to food banks and painted rocks to hand out to people.

"Kindness means to be helpful and do it without anyone telling you to," she said.

"When I'm kind to people it makes me feel happy and glad. I think it might make other people feel happy and grateful."