Not many people know that it would take a line of 160,000 pennies, laid flat, to stretch from Summerland to the Sea Terminal.
Now, the Isle of Man Children's Centre is setting out to demonstrate the fact - and they want you to help them prove it!
The children's charity is looking for the public to get behind this unique challenge, aptly named 'Pennies on the Prom', which is set to take place on Sunday July 12th, 2009.
'We're going to see if we can lay pennies from one end of the promenade to the other,' says Michelle O’Malley, the IOMCC fundraising coordinator who originally came up with the idea. 'People might think it’s a crazy thing to attempt but I am confident that it’s the type of challenge people on the Isle of Man will rise to'.
Known for its innovative approach to fundraising, the IOMCC intends to start the challenge by involving primary schools across the Island in a warm-up to the main event, called Pennies in the Playground.
The aim is to provide schools with small money boxes, to see how many pennies children can collect over the TT half term period at the end of May. The plan will then be to lay them across each school playground during June. The coins collected by schoolchildren will then be used for Pennies on the Prom.
'We will encourage the children to come along and help lay the coins on the day with their families,' said Michelle.
In 2006, the IOMCC launched a money box appeal throughout the Island’s primary schools, raising an impressive £6000 for the Building Blocks Appeal.
'It just shows that collective support can make a huge difference,' said Michelle. 'We believe that Pennies in the Playground will highlight the difference children can make in their local communities, as well as show a sense of school spirit. It would be fantastic if we could beat that target with our Pennies on the Prom campaign.
'Donations don’t have to be restricted to just pennies. Just think how much more could be raised if people also donate other coins from their spare change,' added Michelle.
In addition to widespread school support, the IOMCC aims to include pubs, clubs and businesses in the Pennies on the Prom challenge by making collection boxes available for any organisations wanting to take part.
The intention is to have assembled the bulk of the pennies ahead of the big day in July – and then lay them from one end of the prom to the other.
To coin a phrase, Isle of Man Bank has already got the ball rolling. Supporting the event, Isle of Man Bank customers can drop off any pennies in collection boxes at each of the bank’s branches around the island from Wednesday July 1st 2009.
The Isle of Man Children's Centre intends to approach each primary school in turn, but any schools interested in taking part can contact the the Centre on 676076.
