Comedian and author David Walliams wants people in Mansfield to help create the world’s biggest rainbow for the East Midlands’ only children’s hospice by adding a splash of colour.

Mr Walliams, who is a patron of Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, wants people to celebrate the charity’s 20th birthday milestone by helping to smash a world record. To get involved, people can share a bright photo selfie online or write a birthday message on a special coloured postcard.

The selfies and postcards will then be laid together to create the giant rainbow, which will be displayed later in the year at a venue in the East Midlands. The charity – which cares for more than 280 children and young people from the region, including those from Nottinghamshire – hopes to break the record for the world’s biggest postcard mosaic, which currently measures 453.37 m² and was created by students from The Camford International School in India.

Kicking off the World’s Biggest Rainbow campaign today, David Walliams said: “I’m very excited to be launching this fantastic appeal for Rainbows. The hospice is such an incredible place and the staff do a fantastic job making a happy environment filled with love and laughter.

“I am very passionate about the work the charity does and I’m proud to be a patron. So come on, get involved and help them create the biggest rainbow ever made up of selfies and postcards; it’s a fabulous way to celebrate 20 years of caring for children and young people. Let’s do something amazing for Rainbows.”

People will be able to add their bit to the World’s Biggest Rainbow as it tours the East Midlands as part of a special roadshow and people will be able to take photos and write messages on birthday cards at those locations.

Geoff Ellis, Rainbows chief executive, added: “This year we are celebrating 20 years of care and we want to make as much noise as possible about it. We hope that by creating the world’s biggest rainbow, we will raise a lot of awareness about who we are and the work we do. We haven’t decided where we will reveal the rainbow yet as we just don’t know how big it is going to get.

“We are very grateful to David for supporting this campaign and we know that our other famous patrons and ambassadors will also be getting involved so look out for their photos. Anyone from Mansfield can get involved in this and if enough people join in, we will create the biggest rainbow ever.”

To join in, share a bright photo of yourself using backgrounds or accessories matching one of our special rainbow colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple or pink. Then, using the hashtag #RainbowsSelfie, post it onto Twitter or Facebook and nominate your friends to do the same. Or visit www.rainbows.co.uk/birthdayrainbow to order coloured postcards.