The event was inspired by online discussions on the Telford Memories facebook page and is being led by Alison Wakeman, Dan Harris, Julie Mellor, Kev Maddy, Caz Killen and Marcus Keane.

One of the four world records it will attempt to break is the world’s largest ever Hokey Cokey – a record that currently stands at 7,384, a figure set in Iowa, United States in 2010.

Alison said: “We were talking online about events that used to take place in the borough and we remembered there was an event called Hands Around The Wrekin back in 1981, organised by the late Tony Sayce and which attracted 12,000 people,”

“Having created a Facebook page entitled Hands Around The Wrekin Charity Event, I invited the other guys to get together and see what we could organise along those lines. None of us actually knew each other but we instantly hit it off and we were astonished at the support and interest we got.

“We thought we could raise some money for charity, that it would be a fun event to unite the community and a great way of placing Telford on the map and raising the profile of our town.

“We have four world records in mind that we aim to break but we will not be giving details of the other three until nearer the time. We thought the largest hokey cokey would be great fun and we think it is an achievable target.”

Hands Around The Wrekin 2014 aims to use the 1981 event as a basic framework for its planning – utilising some similar arrangements such as bussing as many people in as possible to reduce traffic delays.

“We are negotiating with local transport firms but there are also a lot of buses that do not get used at weekends – for instance those belonging to schools and colleges – which we are hoping to be able to use,” adds Alison.

A number of local business and organisation leaders to an Introduction Evening on March 12th. This will include a fun presentation on the project’s aims and then there will be questions and answers. The group has invited community representatives and businesses to attend to discuss what can be offered by means of help in terms of organisation of the event.

The project is being supported by Telford and Wrekin Council. The council is not offering financial support to the event but officers will be helping out with advice and expertise where needed.

Local charities set to benefit from the event include the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, The Clifton, Stay and Midlands Air Ambulance.

More information can be found at www.handsaroundthewrekin.co.uk.