Daily Updates

Our daily Updates (from Ollie & Lorna) - the most recent at the top

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #8 (Thursday 23rd April - Day 13)


We now have 75+ videos (or started videos) and 750,00+ views across all the videos on all channels!

When we started #GiveCOVIDtheBoot we never imagined that we would have so many videos from rescue teams, government agencies, charities, DofE groups, schools, friendship groups and complete strangers coming together to make these awesome videos. And, we certainly never imagined that we would have a dental surgery (thanks Largs Dental Surgery).

Of course this simple activity is a great way to connect teams (including businesses) virtually, create a few smiles (good dental pun) and let their communities and customers know that you care about them and that you are thinking about them. It is amazing what a positive impact on wellbeing seeing a few familiar faces in their home environments makes. We really like this video because the dental uniforms provide a famior feel but in a very different environment. Anyone else notice that everything is strangely familiar but very different at the moment (or is it just us?)?

Although we immobilized quickly when we came up with the idea. We did base it on some good design principles and always imagined it as a Health and Wellbeing activity, with some powerful opportunities for the development of a range of skills (creativity, communication, social skills etc.) and of course knowledge (#stayathome, social distancing, protect the NHS, etc...). Ollie captured some of this here in this Blog Post.


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Videos for the last two days include:

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and Happy Thursday (rumour had it we have another famous university joining in today!)

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #9 (Tuesday 21st April - Day 11)

Over Half a million Video Views and Counting!

We now have 55 videos and as we said yesterday well over 500, 000+ views across all the videos on all channels! Lots more on the way as well. We love it when you send us a sneak preview of a clip, a sequence or a blooper!

We also have our first video from outside Europe and it is also our first video from a Higher Education Institute. Who ever said they are far too serious on the other side of the pond at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The wonderful team from the Project Zero Pedagogy of Play Project found the time to make this nice little video to help them be together, apart.

We have also had videos from DofE Groups, Gig Rowers, Aviemore Beavers, Keep Scotland Beautiful and a very fun video from East Lothian Outdoor Education Service (you have to watch this one - it is so well done!). See the links below for all the details.


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterdays videos included:



Don’t forget to spread the word and encourage others to make their own #GiveCOVIDtheBoot videos. We would love more youth groups (Scouts, guides, etc. involved!)

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #8 (Monday 20th April - Day 10)

At Least 500,000 Views across all channels!


Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

We now have 47 videos. We did a quick count on Sunday but stopped at 500,000 so we can confidently say we are now over half a million views across all channels! We also know that we have lots of other videos on the way - including our first one from outside Europe - which is quite exciting!

Lots more great videos from yesterday (see below). We loved them all but the one from Climb Scotland and Kingussie Gymnastics Club


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterdays videos included:

  • Kingussie Gymnastics Club - a super flexible clips with some outstanding boot throwing moves from the talented bunch (and a lot of Ollie’s former pupils) from Kingussie High School

  • Climb Scotland - We certainly have a very talented group of young people over in the ClimbScotland community. The transitions and sequences are such great fun. The improvised training routines, hanging out of the window, the kitchen, the nerf gun, the boot inside the boot, booting the boot, the bike, the motorbike, the quad bike - we loved it all.

  • Mountaineering Scotland - We loved the pace of the clip and some of the transitions (the bit with the rucksack and the hoist cracked us up!).

  • London Search and Rescue - Super clear messages and a few surprises chucked in for good measure. The turbo trainer and the dogs as supporting actors were just fantastic Thanks also for the big shout out to the nhs.uk.

  • Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs - If you like dogs then you will like this great little video full of boot-dog interactions.

Don’t forget to spread the word and encourage others to make their own #GiveCOVIDtheBoot videos. It is so important that we stay connected in these tricky times

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).


#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #7 (Saturday 18th April - Day 8)

At Least 250,000 Views across all channels!

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

We now have 42 videos and as many of them have had at least 1000 views across all channels (some a lot, lot, more) we are estimating reach at 250,000 (but we will do an official count on Sunday). We have had some of the first #GiveCOVIDtheBoot videos appear on Tic Tok as well.

The the news Trail Runner Magazine featured the great #GiveCOVIDtheBoot video from Run the Alps and we had a nice write up in Ollie’s local paper ‘The Strathy’.

We were so impressed that The Duke of Edinburgh Award have made #GiveCOVIDtheBoot an official #dofechallenge for all DofE staff and that the British Exploring Society also did the same for their staff and members! Right from the start we have always thought that this could be a great way to unite expedition teams (both past & present) when we can't physically be together at the moment! Also a great meaningful activity to promote teamwork and collaboration during this lockdown time.

We also loved this powerful quote from @DofEKevin who said, "great to see the staff and volunteers taking time out to keep engaged their young people, this isn't #DofEWithADifference, this is just #DofE !"

Videos from Search and Rescue Teams are still coming in (see below) and we have also had some lovely family videos as well. If you watch one thing, watch this outtake from Lexi Martin it is hilarious. Perhaps one of the most moving videos from the day though was from the parents and ASN pupils from Nairn Academy. #GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control was awash with ‘happy’ tears - even more when we read some of the messages of support!

Don’t forget to spread the word and encourage others to make their own #GiveCOVIDtheBoot videos. It is so important that we stay connected in these tricky times


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterdays videos included:



Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great weekend!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome for at least another three weeks! in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).


#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #6 (Friday 17th April - Day 7)

AT LEAST 150,000 VIEWS ACROSS ALL CHANNELS!

(probably a lot more... we need to do a proper count)


Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

Yesterday was another brilliant day for #GiveCOVIDtheBoot Video submissions. We have another six videos bringing in our total number of videos up to 33 (+ a few open reels where people can contribute). We haven't got a clue how many total views this will be, but we will do a proper recount at the weekend. We estimate though that it is at least 150,000+ views across all videos (probably a lot higher).

The best thing about yesterday was the quality of the videos and the diversity of the groups of people that submitted them. If you have time, watch them, watch them all!

It was great to have a video from Shetland Islands Council Children's Services. It is so important in these times that people working on the frontline (like children's services workers) make time to play, smile & recharge. This creates the space to think, relieves stress and will help you think differently and we need to think differently during these current times.

The Run the Alps video oozes Alpine coolness and the Tents, Trees and Bumble Bees captures exactly what we intended this campaign to be about - adventure friends getting together, remembering past adventures, making a new moment and planning for their next be trip. Great to have an appearance from world record holder, Everest summiter & Polar Explorer Molly Hughes - thank goodness she took both boots to the South Col.

We were also so pleased that The Duke of Edinburgh Award - Scotland came on Board. When we started #GiveCOVIDtheBoot we always thought this would be a great activity to bring DofE Groups and Expedition Teams together in a fun, meaningful and socially interactive away when we can't be physically together and be out on expeditions.

Basically, a good day!


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterdays videos included:


  • Tents, Trees and Bumble Bees - Made by a group of close group of climbing pals. Also featuring Everest summiter & Polar Explorer Molly Hughes - thank goodness she took both boots to the South Col).

  • Run the Alps - This video gets 10/10 for pure Chamonix / Alpine coolness. Great to see the team from Run the Alps respond to our challenge!

  • DofE Scotland - So great to have DofE Scotland on Board and impressed with how many DofE Banners that you all keep at your houses! WE hear there are more DofE Groups on the way.

  • Shetland Islands Children's Services - We loved the video and the clever scenes. Was surprised the Welly Boot didn't blow away in the blustery Shetland wind!

  • Galloway Mountain Rescue Team - Nice little video from another Rescue Team with some obvious fun in the making! Plus the wee girl at the start has a good throwing arm on her!

  • Lynne Bannan and her family - Lynne and her family make a super little video. We are reliably informed that they had great fun making it and we hear it might become part of something bigger!

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).


#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #6 (Thursday 16th April - Day 6)

130,000 Views across all channels!

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

Lots of activity on the #GiveCOVITtheBoot tag across all social media channels as of last night we now have 28 different videos with 7 more added on Wednesday that we spotted. All of the new videos are listed below and all of the videos were just great. WE like the small scale family and friends videos as much as the pseudo ‘Hollywood’ productions!

We also had some more coverage in the news yesterday. Our Sunday Post article appeared online and we also had a lovely write up in the Times Educational Supplement - thank so much for your support.


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterdays videos included:


  • Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue (Lovely video, clear messages, water fight, cute baby in a hat and we loved it when the guy puts the boot back on at the end).

  • Mourne Mountain Rescue Team (Wonderfully well put together and edited video that oozes the professionalism, values and friendship needed to be a first class Mountain Rescue Team. The families, the rope work, the radio controlled Mountain Rescue Landrover, the cheeky smiles when delivering a clear, simple and powerful message. So great to see the involvement of the Air Ambulance and NHS Staff. It shows that you are one big connected team).

  • Linda Bratner (Looks like there was a lot of fun making this video and apparently lots of ‘happy tears’ watching it back).

  • Craigdon Mountain Sports Inverness Ltd (Great to see local shops getting involved with #GiveCOVIDtheBoot and Ollie wants a Treehouse like the one in this video!)

  • Blairvadach Centre (Fab video! Thanks. We love the very end with the goal and the giant 'welly wang' near the end - hope you got your boot back!)

  • Fiona Outdoors (This is a great video crowdsourced by Fiona Outdoors. We loved the fact that it includes ideas for outdoorsy people to find alternative ways to stay motivated, fit and healthy during lockdown 2020. All of the ideas can be done at home or locally. Brilliant!)

  • @MoondancerAI (a nice little video made by hill waking friends. Love the bit with the 'pieces').


The Scratch version of #GiveCOVITtheBoot also continues to grow!


Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #5 (Wednesday 15th April - Day 5)

100,000+ Views (across all videos)

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

Well Tuesday was quite a day and we spotted six new #GiveCOVITtheBoot videos. Always creative, often powerful and normally very funny. You can see the list below and do let us know if we missed any of them.

When Lorna and I came up with the idea for #GiveCOVIDthBoot exactly a week ago. We never thought that one week later we would have over 20 videos from a variety of people including Rescue Teams, Cycling Clubs, Community Organisations, Scratch Coders, Teachers, Schools, Friends, Friends of Friends and complete strangers. We never thought that between these videos - in under five days- the total reach across all channels would be at 100,000+ views (engagement is of course a lot higher). And, we certainly never thought we would get a submission from Get Fit and Fly Pole Dancing Club! Thank you to everyone for helping us #GiveCOVIDthBoot

Lots of good little creative ideas as well. For example we loved this human stop-frame animation #GiveCOVIDthBoot from Sebastian Martin of the Tinkering Studio in San-Francisco.


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos.


The Scratch version of #GiveCOVITtheBoot also continues to grow!


Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).


#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #4 (Tuesday 14th April - Day 4)

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

Due to Easter Monday this is the start of the week for many of us. Anyone else feel confused about the days of the week at the moment? #MakeCOVIDtheBoot made an appearance in the Sunday Post over the weekend. Ollie tried to buy a copy, but it was Monday (he was convinced it was Sunday).

Yesterday we saw lots of clips and moments of videos being put together. We can’t wait to see the final show reels!

We have now had over 17,000 views of our original video and the total reach of all the videos combined is well over 70,000 views. Thank you so much for helping us get the message out there.

Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos.

Today we want to give a big plug for our friends in the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab and the Scratch Foundation. Scratch is the block based programming language and community. It allows children (and adults) to create their own stories games and animations.

Our wonderful friend Dr Natalie Rusk from the MIT Media Lab is one the of the co-creators of Scratch. Yesterday morning - over a cup of tea - Natalie made us a #GiveCOVIDtheBoot Scratch Project for others to copy and join it with. LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research Mitch Resnick (Founder of the Scratch Team) has already remixed a version as have a number of other members of the Scratch community.

So now you can easily make #GiveCOVITtheBoot Scratch projects by building on Natalie's project. It is still super creative, with opportunities for children to create their own backgrounds, virtual boots, representations of themselves and then - of course - carry on the story. We can’t wait for our first video sensing version.

Link to the Scratch Studio here.

Also ideal for children and young people that can't be filmed for a variety of reasons, but still want to take part.

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

As the schools start to go back today we challenge Kingussie High School, Grantown Grammar School and in an effort to improve our international reach we challenge our playful pals at Care for Education in South Africa.

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a great week!

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome and working from home in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #3 (Monday 13th April - 72 hours in)

55,000 views across all the videos that you have created

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this post!

What an Easter Sunday. Different is so many ways, but also special because it is unlikely that you will forget the Easter weekend of 2020. One thing for sure is that we won’t forget it.

Between LEGO building, Easter egg hunting, sunbathing and a bike ride it was almost impossible to keep up with the videos and messages flooding in! Thanks so much for joining in and making us smile, we are reliably informed that there were quite a lot of ‘happy tears’ yesterday as wellies were wanged, Dr Martens dodged and boots were caught and passed on. It was just great to watch.

We have now had over 15,000 views of our original video and the total reach of all the videos combined is well over 55,000 views (engagement obviously higher). Thank you so much for helping us get the message out there.


Want some more inspiration?

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos.

Yesterday’s videos include:


We have also had some lovely videos shared with us privately by families and friends. Who are making video memories and just sharing in their close network. We think this is lovely and we feel very privileged that you have shared so many family moments with us. It makes us smile!

We also like that there are some open boot throwing sequences starting, for example:

  • Geographers Give COVID the Boot (some of my favorite Geography teachers unite in this open ended video video where they want more Geography Teacher to join them) - 12th April

  • Culloden Academy - have launched as an official challenge to their students. We also know that as the schools go back next week there are a lot of schools that have asked to do this as a class, year group or school activity. The answer is, of course you can!


Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

With lots of our outdoor friends already involved. Today we are calling out our Education friends to join in. So we challenge Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Microsoft Education Team and the MIT / Scratch Foundation Scratch Team. Will you help us #GiveCOVIDtheBoot?


Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a fantastic Easter Monday.

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).

#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #2 (Sunday 12th April - 48 hours in)

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk and feel free to share this update with your network.

Yesterday was a great day in Scotland, and it would have been perfect to be up in the hills, wandering the glens or padding the rivers. The air temperature was even just warm enough to entice you in for that first wild swim of the year. But we are all staying at home, and that is OK.

As well as the weather the other great thing about yesterday was the flurry of activity about #GiveCOVIDtheBoot - we have loved your messages of support, the photos, the outtakes, even up in the Scottish Highlands you can hear the whirring of video editing software and pings on WhatsApp as boot throwing videos were exchanged!

We are even reliably informed that our first international video has started to come into production.

Across all channels we have now had over 7000+ views of our introduction video. But the reach is of course MUCH greater. The Dorset Search and Rescue Video has had over 11,000 views in 24 hours across all their channels. If we add up all the views of the #GiveCOVIDtheBoot Videos that have been produced so far we are at 27,000 views.

And, this is really what we set out to do. To use the power of our outdoor network to get the message out we need to #Stayathome to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot (while creating a few smiles along the way).

Also, don't forget if you want to join in but don’t have a group to join in with then Fiona Outdoors is putting together a video (details here) or you can send a clip to us (details on the front page of the www.giveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk website) and we will include you in an open show reel.


More inspiration:

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterday’s videos include:

Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Oh, today we challenge The Ramblers and the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI).

Keep safe and #StayatHome and have a wonderful Easter.

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& still #SafelyStayingAtHome in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).


#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Up-date #1 (Saturday 11th April - 24 hours in)

Don't forget everything you need is on www.GiveCOVIDtheBoot.co.uk

We have been over the moon with the response to our little idea to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot and the promo video has been viewed over 5000 time across various social media channels (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIN, etc….). Did you spot Cameron McNeish, Alastair Humphreys and Ed Stafford in the promo video - they have all been very generous with their time! Thank you again.

Anyway, the thing that gave us the most pleasure yesterday was imagining hundreds of people scurrying around and then throwing and catching boots, trainers, whatever, to each other.

Your private messages have also made us laugh a lot.

For example, Ochils Mountain Rescue Team (who produced the first response) challenged Dorset Search and Rescue. We got a great message from DorSAR's Graham 'Bertie..' Beckram that said, ‘Filming is now underway in some of the most beautiful parts of Dorset… our back gardens’.

Your comments, humour and playfulness have us in stitches!

In these tricky times we need more of this, as much of it as we can get. On a very personal level Ollie has been really pleased with how many of his former pupils have been in touch, and are now making videos.

We have also had our first video from a DofE Scotland Group. Well done Nairn Academy Gold DofE Team. You really did do a fab job and we liked the use of the rucksack at the start and the end. We are hoping that we will see more DofE Groups join in.

We are expecting quite a few videos today from Rescue Teams, groups and club (we have just shared the one from Dorset Search and Rescue). We can’t wait to see the rest arrive, watch them and spread a few more smiles - although our jaws are actually aching with all the smiling (not something we thought we would say during a global pandemic!)

Other things:


More inspiration:

Go to www.GiveCOVIDthe Boot.co.uk (and click on links to videos) to find the links to all the videos. Yesterday’s videos include:


Thanks for all your support and it is great to have so many people working hard to #GiveCOVIDtheBoot.

Oh, Today we challenge Glenmore Lodge & Scottish Avalanche Information Service


Keep safe and #StayatHome

Ollie and Lorna

(#GiveCOVIDtheBoot Mission Control)

& #SafelyStayingAtHome in Kincraig and Mid Calder (respectively).