Our pumpkin carriage tour | Carve a Heart 2015
Hot on the trail of our Carve a Heart pumpkin carriage, PR Natalie blogs about the journey as she travels around the country this week. She's urging Britons to carve a heart in their pumpkins this year, and turn a night of fear into a night of hope.
Saturday 31st October : Spitalfields
Happy Halloween all! This evening marks the end of our national Carve a Heart tour - and what a fabulous evening it has been!
Our giant pumpkin carriage made its last stop of in London at Christ Church, Spitalfields this evening.
We parked up outside the church to be welcomed by a 200-strong congregation displaying beautifully heart-carved pumpkins to light up the church steps as a symbol of hope for those who are in need of support, shelter and ultimately, love. Professional pumpkin carver, Christian Russell, also came along to deliver some specially carved pumpkins to be displayed in the church.
We’re over the moon with the support we’ve had for our Carve a Heart campaign and the amount of people that came to show their support on our journey across the UK was truly overwhelming. So far we’ve reached an audience of over 982,559, but the journey doesn’t end there.
Remember to Carve a Heart in your pumpkin this evening. Please get involved by texting HEART to 70060 to donate £5 and help children living in fear.
Friday 30th October : St Albans
After a rainy start this morning, we set up our carriage in the beautiful St Albans. Today we were in Christopher’s Place - right outside some great shops including Cath Kidston, Whistles and Hobbs (I had to exercise some serious restraint!).
Families were out enjoying the last day of half-term, and lots of people stopped by to take some selfies in the carriage and have their photo taken on our classic Polaroid camera - a massive hit with the kids!
Local blogger Siobhan popped by to get involved in the fun, along with the local press and radio who interviewed the team.
We have been so touched by the support we’ve received around the country. As we pack up from our penultimate stop on the carriage tour, it’s been amazing to see the ongoing interest and excitement from families.
We’ve heard from lots of people that they are planning to carve a heart in their pumpkin, so we would like to thank each and every one of you who’ve visited us throughout the week. Keep spreading the word and help us turn a night of fear this Halloween into a Night of Hope.
If you weren’t able to visit us today, fear not, you can still show your support by pledging online here.
Thursday 29th October : Milton Keynes
Today the carriage has been at our headquarters in Milton Keynes for a little break and to give our staff the chance to take some selfies with it! Some of the local press came down to take a sneak a peek too.
Everyone took a break from their desks for a complimentary coffee and jumped in the carriage to build up our Polaroid montage. Lots of people brought their families and friends to enjoy the carriage as well - here is our campaign manager, Alison’s little boy Isaac enjoying the pumpkin carriage.
A few weeks ago, the UK’s largest pumpkin was kindly donated to us by Thompson & Morgan, grown by Ian and Stuart Paton, and we rolled it out for the press in Milton Keynes this morning.
Professional pumpkin carver, Christian Russell, came along and got to work on the gigantic 1861lb pumpkin, carving the entire top into a heart, and added a smaller heart with our logo and the #carveaheart hashtag! It took him four hours to carve the beast, here are the before and after pictures.
Now we are on the road again for the last legs of the tour - we will be in St Albans tomorrow, then finally finishing in London on Halloween. See you there!
Wednesday 28th October : Birmingham
Day three, we set up our pumpkin carriage nice and early outside the Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham, right in front of St Martin's Church - a perfect back drop for the day. Blissfully unaware of our presence while we sat in the restaurant next door and ate breakfast, morning commuters passed by and took selfies with the mysterious pumpkin.
The weather was forecast to be raining his morning but it brightened up, hurrah! And with the brighter weather, along came lots of lovely visitors to the pumpkin.
The people of Birmingham showed fantastic support for our carriage and many pledged to carve a heart in their pumpkins this Halloween as they took a break from shopping at the Bullring.
It was great to hear that so many people had already heard about our Carve a Heart campaign, with many people telling us they had already done something to help.
We spoke to Emily, 4, and Charlotte, 11, pictured, who sponsored a child with World Vision instead of buying extra Christmas gifts this festive season. Thanks so much Emily and Charlotte and thanks once again to everyone who came down today.
After a brilliant day of support in Birmingham it’s back on the road for us! Next stop; St Albans.
To show your support for children living in fear around the world this Halloween, please carve a heart in your pumpkin and text HEART to 70060* to donate £5. You can find out more about the campaign here.
Tuesday 27th October : Harrogate
Day two of the Carve a Heart carriage tour dawned a little misty as we parked up on Prospect Crescent in Harrogate this morning to meet Dick Whittington. He is our main man, kindly helping us transport our pumpkin from city to city this week. Dick set off from Edinburgh late last night and said that it took him a while to realise that the flashes he kept seeing whilst driving were actually those from people taking pictures of our carriage on its travels!
It’s safe to say the slightly gloomy weather didn’t dampen Harrogate’s spirits as we’ve had lots of people coming down to see us. One lovely lady said we’d brightened up Harrogate on a misty morning – which is fab coming from the spa town dubbed the happiest place to live in Britain!
One smaller visitor, Ruth, even said the weather was perfect for it – I suppose it wouldn’t be Halloween without a slightly spooky feel.
We’re over the moon to have support from Great British Bake Off’s Sandy Docherty for this year’s Carve a Heart campaign and she was kind enough to pop by and see us too. Lots of local press and snappers came by to interview Sandy and take some photos of our pumpkin – keep an eye out for us in the news!
With plenty of coffees from the local shops and some special Halloween cupcakes made by a local baker, there was no stopping our team as we chatted to our visitors. I think we’ve made a real impression on Harrogate today and people are taking the time to learn about our Carve a Heart campaign. A special thanks to the whole 20th Harrogate Scout Group who came down to see us and all pledged to Carve a Heart this Halloween!
If you weren’t able to visit us today, fear not, you can show your support by pledging online here
After another exciting day, our pumpkin is headed down to Birmingham where we’ll be at the Bullring from first thing tomorrow morning.
Monday 26th October : Edinburgh
It was a sunny but brisk start as we arrived in Edinburgh well before breakfast this morning to settle the pumpkin carriage into Castle Street. As soon as the shops opened, we did have to take a quick break to nip into Debenhams for some gloves to keep our hands warm!
Newly toasty, we made quick work of setting up the carriage alongside the iconic Edinburgh Castle and we were soon chatting with lots of interested locals and tourists. It seems news of the campaign is spreading, with one lady saying she had just seen the stickered pumpkins in Tesco and thought it was a great idea!
We’re delighted with how many people came to visit us and support the campaign. Hundreds of locals pledged to Carve a Heart in their pumpkins this Halloween, and the lovely Bella from Lisbon said it looks like a real Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage! We have started to put these creative Polaroid’s inside the pumpkin to build up a montage of pledges.
If you weren’t able to visit us today, fear not, you can show your support by pledging online here.
After a long day of fun, we're now on the road to our next stop. Tomorrow we’ll be in Harrogate – hope to see you there!
Sunday 25th October
We’re now in the third year of our annual Carve a Heart campaign and each year we are so overwhelmed by the support.
This time last year I was travelling around England, overseeing a pumpkin projection onto some of the most iconic buildings in the country. We went to the Printworks in Manchester, the Royal Liver building in Liverpool and First Direct Arena in Leeds, and brought a pop up pumpkin photo booth to shopping centres in Leeds and London.
After the projections last year, we’re travelling the country again this year, but this time with a pumpkin that is 3D. Our magnificent Cinderella-style pumpkin carriage starts its tour up in the Scottish capitol of Edinburgh tomorrow, and I’ll be there with the rest of the World Vision gang on Castle Street from 9am to 5pm.
It’ll be the start of a gruelling week as we make our way down the country before a grand finale in Spitalfields on 31 October. I’ve stocked up on Berocca, dry shampoo, wet wipes, and lots of music and jelly babies to keep us going. Our goal is to reach 100,000 people across the country over the week, and share the stories of just some of the children they’ll be supporting by carving a heart, and texting to donate £5*.
The carriage won’t just be an opportunity to take a selfie and meet some local celebs, but also an opportunity to pledge to carve a heart in your pumpkin this year, instead of a scary face. The campaign will help children like Abishek, six, whose home was destroyed in the Nepal earthquake in April and Srey from Cambodia who was forced into prostitution at 17 to help repay a loan for her sick father’s medical bills.
Here's our full schedule for the week:
- Monday 26th October – Castle Street, Edinburgh (9am-5pm)
- Tuesday 27th October – Prospect Crescent, Harrogate (9am-5pm)
- Wednesday 28th October – Central Street outside Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham (9am-5pm)
- Friday 30th October – Christopher’s Place, St Albans (9am-5pm)
- Saturday 31st October – Christ Church Spitalfields, London (5-7pm)
If you can’t make it over to any of our carriage stops, make sure to check back as we’ll be updating this page daily with all the action over the coming week!
To show your support for children living in fear around the world this Halloween, please carve a heart in your pumpkin and text HEART to 70060* to donate £5. You can find out more about the campaign here.
*This is a charity donation service for World Vision UK. Texts cost £5 plus your standard network rate message. World Vision will receive 100% of your donation. If you have a question about your payment call 0203 287 7863. If you would prefer we didn't contact you again in future, text NOCOMMS WORLD VISION to 70060. Charity no England and Wales (no 285908).
