Hundreds of celebrities will be showing their artistic side for charity as part of this year's National Doodle Day. Doodles by celebrities including Fearne Cotton, Michael Sheen, Dev Patel, Frank Lampard, Gillian Anderson, Catherine Tate, Ryan Giggs, Jo Brand, Lorraine Kelly, Rolf Harris and Sir Ben Kingsley will be auctioned on eBay from Friday 5 March. The auction will raise money for two UK neurological charities, Epilepsy Action and The Neurofibromatosis Association.
The eBay auction will begin today - National Doodle Day - and will run for 10 days. People can also vote for their favourite by text. Details of how to do this can be found on the National Doodle Day website, www.nationaldoodleday.org.uk
Over 1,000 celebrities have taken part in the annual event over the years, and members of the public can follow in their footsteps in an individual Doodle Day competition. With a theme of 'My favourite', doodlers will have the chance to doodle all about what they love most. Doodlers can also see what their doodles reveal about their personality on the ‘meanings’ section of the National Doodle Day website.
The lucky winners of the individual Doodle Day competitions will win a brand new laptop, donated by Toshiba, and certificates will be awarded in various age categories. All winners will have their work displayed in the doodle Hall of Fame on the National Doodle Day website.
And there’s more! A separate competition gives pupils the chance to win £500 worth of stationery products for the best primary and secondary school entries, and £250 worth of stationery products for the best nursery and sixth form college. All prizes will be donated by BiC. Businesses, clubs and societies are also being encouraged to hold their own National Doodle Day competitions to be eligible to win one of the top prizes in the individual's competition.
National Doodle Day has also teamed up with the Dodo Pad – publishers of quirky, humorous diaries and organisers that invite the user to doodle. This year, Lord Dodo, founder and inventor of the Dodo Pad, has kindly agreed to feature a National Doodle Day entry form within the 2010 Dodo Pad and Acad-Pad diaries. Dodo Pad doodlers also have the opportunity to have their doodle featured in a future edition of the Dodo Pad diary and/or the Acad-Pad diary.
Dianne Flatt, fundraising manager at Epilepsy Action, said: “National Doodle Day is always a fantastic event and absolutely anyone can take part. Now in its seventh year, the last six years of doodling have raised more than £185,000, helping to provide vital support to people with epilepsy and neurofibromatosis. This year's theme of ‘My Favourite’ should be great fun to design, so pick up your pens and get doodling!”
Irene Guirguis, development fundraising manager at The Neurofibromatosis Association, said: "National Doodle Day is a great way to raise awareness of these two often overlooked conditions. We're hoping that this year's event will be as successful as ever, inspiring all you doodlers out there to use your creative flair for a worthy cause!"
Individual entries should be drawn on an A5 piece of card and include name, age, telephone number and address on the back. Closing date for entries is Friday 2 April 2010. There is a suggested minimum donation of £1 for each entry. Cheques should be made payable to National Doodle Day and submitted to National Doodle Day, c/o Epilepsy Action, FREEPOST LS0995, Leeds, LS19 7YY.
To find out more about how to take part in National Doodle Day, visit www.nationaldoodleday.org.uk or call 0113 210 8800.