West Coast hands reaching new highs

High-fivers setting up ahead of the world record attempt (Newshub.)
High-fivers setting up ahead of the world record attempt (Newshub.)

Thousands of people descended on Greymouth's Rugby Park this morning in an attempt to break the world record for the longest continuous high five.

Organiser Maria Swinburn believes they broke the record but is waiting for official confirmation.

It's a serious undertaking involving 14 local schools, sponsorship from local businesses, a helicopter overhead and a year-and-a-half of organising from the children's charity Parfitt Kids.

"Everyone's lining up in lines of 50 and it's like a domino effect, you start at one end and finish at the other," she says.

"I went round to all the schools and showed them how to do it," she says.

High-fivers gathering at Greymouth Rugby Park (Newshub)

The Guinness World Record attempt will take around an hour-and-a-half, but it's back to square one if a single person misses the high-five. The whole thing is being filmed and two JPs and a local police officer will be supervising to make sure there's nothing underhand.

"There's so many rules, if you break the chain you don't break the record. Basically, you've got to be able to high-five," says Ms Swinburn.

Proceeds will go to seven charities including St John, Foster Hope and the Child Cancer Foundation.

Newshub.