Students across the UK are being invited to wear the colours of the emergency services on Friday 3rd December 2021 in an effort to raise at least £3.2m to build the UK’s first monument to honour the NHS and emergency services.
The campaign is #UniteTheUniforms for the @999Cenotaph and will see school children and students wearing blue, green, red or orange clothing (the colours of the emergency services), and donating £1 which will go towards making the Emergency Services Cenotaph a reality.
Almost 2 million people serve in the emergency services today, including 250,000 first responders – those who respond when you dial 999.
All the money donated will go towards making the national monument a reality.
The 999 Cenotaph, sculpted by Philip Jackson, will be located on Whitehall in Westminster, London. It will stand 21ft tall and include six, 8ft figures stood back-to-back wearing the uniform they would wear when responding to a 999 call.
They are a police officer, firefighter, maritime volunteer, paramedic, nurse and a search and rescue volunteer. A dog is also included to represent the many service animals.
The project is supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge; the Prime Minister; the First Ministers of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; and all emergency services.
Two medical students at the University of Manchester Medical School, Hithin Noble and Maria Chowdhury, wanted to raise money for charity, and along with Robina Shah MBE presented the #UniteTheUniforms idea to the 999 Cenotaph’s CEO, Tom Scholes-Fogg, who spearheaded the campaign and made it a reality.
Speaking about the campaign, Hithin Noble and Maria Chowdhury, said: “This pandemic has put a spotlight on the hard work and resilience of our emergency services. We wanted to create a campaign to show our collective appreciation. The 999 Cenotaph is a monument to provide a permanent symbol to recognise the efforts of our skilled and selfless heroes, and we are truly proud to support this. We hope to create a fitting tribute that both commemorates our country’s frontline workers, and inspires the next generation of lifesavers. By standing in solidarity on this day, we are showing our support to those who dedicated their lives to protect us.”
Tom Scholes-Fogg, Chief Executive of 999 Cenotaph, said: “We are delighted to announce this one-off campaign, for a once in a lifetime monument to our 999 and NHS heroes. I very much hope students, teachers and parents show their support and get involved.”
This one-off, UK-wide campaign will see schools, colleges, and universities from across the country taking part and using the hashtag: #UniteTheUniforms.
How to show support:
- Text ‘Hero 1’ to 70500 to donate £1.
- If you would like to donate more than £1, visit www.999Cenotaph.org.uk
- Follow us on social media @999Cenotaph and #UniteTheUniforms.
- All the money donated will go towards making the national monument a reality.