More than 150,000 schoolchildren from the UK and overseas will today attempt to break the record for the Most People Performing Sign Language in Multiple Venues.

Pupils at schools in Great Britain, Africa and Spain will be participating in the sign2sing world record attempt organised by the charity SignHealth.

Steve Powell, Chief Executive at UK-based SignHealth, said: "Our Guinness World Recordsign2sing project is an attempt to break the world record for the most people singing and signing a song at the same time.

"Almost 95,000 children took part in our first sign2sing event last February (2011) and smashed the previous record, which was 13,418. We are hoping to beat our current record of 94,489 and already it looks like more than 150,000 schoolchildren from the UK and overseas are participating in sign2sing."

Young people from all over the UK and overseas will sign a song, entitled 'Sign2sing', which has been composed especially for the event.

The lyrics were written by Garry Slack, author of the award-winning 'Sign with Olli' books and the music was composed by Paul Fairey, who has written various theme tunes for television and radio.

The event is designed to raise awareness of deafness and the work of SignHealth, as well as acting as a fundraiser for the charity through sponsorship from businesses and a suggested donation of £1 for everyone taking part.

Damian Field from Guinness World Records said: "This is a fantastic initiative and we'd like to wish everyone involved the very best of luck with smashing the current record."

The charity is hoping to organise the event next year. People wishing to take part are invited to contact the charity to register their interest.

For more information please visit the website www.sign2sing.org.ukor contact SignHealth on 01494 687600.