A History of a Charity in Twenty Objects - #11
What you'll see here are Guy Fox mascots in all shapes and sizes. Handsome fellow, isn’t he?! Each one has his own story.
Handmade Guy Fox (2000)
Now, we can’t tell a lie. Kourtney is no seamstress. She’d never made a stuffed toy in her life; she’d hardly even sewn a button onto a shirt. She didn’t know she needed a pattern. So we will chalk up this effort to the hubris of naiveté.
Over two winter evenings, with lots of trial and error and some very, very questionable sewing techniques, this Guy Fox emerged. We’ll give him points for a result that, even if imperfect, has its charms.
Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that his paws are odd sizes, the white fur is on the wrong side of his tail, and his nose and eyes, which are made of modeling clay, are stitched precariously to his face. He hasn’t got any whiskers, because his creator couldn’t figure out how to attach them. At some point, Jill Plaisted, our chairman’s mother, knitted him a scarf – a very good addition, as it keeps his head from falling off his body!
He’s threadbare in spots, but Guy Fox is definitely in there. He's one of the oldest artefacts in our history.
Guy Fox Mascot (2002)
In 2002, we met the owner of Costumes with Character at the London International Toy Fair. They make costumes with character (hence the name) for football teams, production companies and charities.
We stopped to chat, thinking it might be useful to have a Guy Fox mascot. Unfortunately, the pricetag was too high, so we thanked the owner for his time. As we turned to leave, he stopped us, “Here, take my card. Send me a letter about your charity and its aims. If we can help you on the price, we will.”
We did and they did. They helped us a lot on the price. A lot. We’re still grateful for that.
We faxed them a few drawings of Guy Fox and waited. Three weeks later, the biggest box we’d ever seen was delivered by a perplexed-looking UPS driver. Kourtney immediately tried on the giant head, which, of course, got stuck.
But we digress. Back to our story.
It turns out, it’s extremely useful to have a Guy Fox mascot! We send him for photo opportunities – to collect a giant cheque from a fundraiser, or accept an award or promote our activities. He’s our silent spokesperson. A spokesfox, if you will. He has certainly helped generate awareness of our work. After all, a photo of giant fox mascot is the kind of thing that people notice in the newspaper.
Plus, he’s very popular. If you’ve ever been to one of our book launches, you’ll know that Guy Fox makes an appearance at some point – and he usually steals the show.
Crocheted Guy Fox (2013)
Jayne also happens to be a business continuity management expert. In 2016, she helped us develop our business continuity emergency plan. She helped us test it and tweak it, as well as training our team.
So when Covid19 came along, we were prepared. No panicking at all. Whew! Without Jayne's expertise and support, we would not have survived the pandemic.
Guy Fox Junior (2017)
In 2017, when we traveled abroad to deliver projects in Toronto and Washington DC, we wanted to take Guy Fox along. Unfortunately, our giant Guy Fox couldn’t fit in the overhead locker of an airplane. Or anywhere else! So we asked Costumes with Character to create a puppet-sized Guy Fox, who can be dismantled and packed comfortably in a suitcase.
He arrived a few days before we flew out to Washington DC for the launch of ‘How the World REALLY Works: Savings, Investments & Retirement’. We packed him up and took him along. He fit beautifully into his role as ambassador for our organisation and gained lots of attention and questions from people on the street. Every time someone asked us about him, we responded with one of our books. After all, they don't read themselves!
While we were in Washington, we took Guy Fox out for a walk along the National Mall. Quite unexpectedly, we were halted by a police officer. We thought we might be in trouble, but it turned out, she only wanted to take a selfie with him!
He's been a wonderful ambassador – small enough to travel with us to volunteer events and even meetings. He's visited conference rooms in top City firms and has met some extraordinary people. And because he's such a good traveler, he'll be accompanying us on future projects around the world.
You may also have seen him on Youtube, where he teaches drawing lessons.
Lego® Guy Fox (2020)
In 2014, our office manager Piera challenged the team to build a Guy Fox out of Lego® bricks. She was thinking of a fundraiser – to ask members of the public to sponsor each brick and raise money for our work.
Spare moment? Ha!
That box stayed under the desk, moved only for dusting, until March 13th, 2020.
If that date rings a bell, it was the moment Covid19 changed our lives forever. When we realised we were going to be spending a LONG time at home, we packed up the Business Continuity Management kit – and Piera plopped the box of Lego on top of it.
Challenge accepted.
60 hours and 3,227 bricks later, this Lego version of Guy Fox was a reality! As our friend Sarah Wilkinson commented, it’s the sort of nuts and genius thing that could only have happened in Lockdown. And of course we made of video of the construction, which you can watch on our Youtube channel.
We’re currently creating a smaller version, with instructions, for our fans who want to build their own Lego® Guy Fox.
Call us sentimental, but we love our random collection of Guy Fox mascots. They are a wonderful embodiment of our ethos, and they bring Guy Fox to life – for our team as well as everyone else.