At Free Car Mag, we love talking about cars, however, we also love talking to people who are positive, full of fantastic ideas and those who are trying to make a difference in the world, says Kiran Parmar

We are delighted to chat to Jayne Walden this month whose daughter, Matilda, is attempting to break an official Guinness World Record!

Matilda who is 13 years old, decided to do something special for a local charity called ‘SELFA’ that has been so supportive of her.

‘SELFA’ is a local charity in Skipton and Craven supporting children and young people. Their goal is to work towards a community where all children and young people are celebrated and know they belong. They support children and families experiencing vulnerabilities, help to build resilience, thrive, and achieve. ‘SELFA’ run a full programme of activities for school-age children (4-19) who live or attend school in North Yorkshire. This includes health and wellbeing programmes, peer support groups, targeted holiday workshops and trips and residentials.

Matilda’s mum, Jayne, explained to us why Matilda decided to attempt to break a world record; “Matilda was barred from the local community group and was not welcome. Matilda is autistic and ‘SELFA’ have encouraged her in every way, so much so, she now has the confidence to attempt to break a world record in public.” 

So, what is Matilda’s Guinness World Record quest going to entail you may ask? Well, Matilda’s challenge is going to be to assemble a ‘Mr Potato Head’ action figure from the ‘Toy Story’ movies in record time, the time to beat is 6.62 secs! 
Matilda will be carrying out the world record attempt on 10th December, 2021. Everyone at Free Car Mag will be routing for her and wishing her the very best of luck. If you would like to know more and donate to ‘SELFA,’ please visit https://www.selfa.org.uk/.

Finally, a question for Matilda; are you into cars? What is your favourite car and why?
Matilda: “I love cars, and I dream of being a rally driver one day. I have to say that my favourite car is the Morris Minor, I would love to have one as my first car.”
Kiran: That is a fantastic goal, we wish you lots of luck in a motor racing career. It has been a pleasure to chat to you and your mum.

***Update: 10th December, 2021***
We are very pleased to announce that Matilda succeeded in her Guinness World Record attempt of assembling a Mr. Potato Head on 10th December, 2021 in a very impressive official time of 5.69 seconds! Many congratulations Matilda on a new world record, shaving off 0.93 of a second from the previous set time! Check out the video here:

To keep up-to-date with Matilda’s progress, you can follow Jayne on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JayneWalden1 and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billyarthurwalden/
(Photographs and video courtesy of Jayne Walden)