BBC Children in Need

[Anth]

As the vast majority of Brits will know, today is BBC Children in Need day. With Children in Need comes a whole night of TV fundraising on BBC1 including music, comedy and (most importantly) raising money for the charity Children in Need. Below is some information about the event:

The BBC Children in Need Appeal is the most important single event in the BBC calendar and the only occasion when the whole of the BBC joins together in support of a single project on TV, radio and online.
The BBC's first broadcast appeal for children took place in 1927, in the form of a five-minute radio broadcast on Christmas Day. It raised about £1,143, which equates to about £27,150 by today's standards.

The first televised appeal took place in 1955 and was called the Children's Hour Christmas Appeal, with Sooty and Harry Corbett fronting it. The Christmas Day Appeals continued on TV and radio right up until 1979, with stars such as Terry Hall, Eamonn Andrews, Leslie Crowther and Michael Aspel. During that time a total of £625,836 was raised. Terry Wogan first appeared during this five-minute appeal in 1978, and again in 1979.

The appeal in 1980 was broadcast for the first time as a telethon. This event, hosted by Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen, captured the public's imagination to such an extent that the amount raised increased dramatically to more than £1 million.


Pudsey Bear first appeared on the scene in 1985. He was created by designer Joanna Ball and named after her home town of Pudsey in Yorkshire. Now he's the BBC Children in Need's mascot and official logo, as well as a registered trademark. The range of Pudsey merchandise has increased over the years from classic china mugs to state-of-the-art mobile phone covers. And the royalties from the sale of each item benefit the charity.

BBC Children in Need helps disadvantaged children to have a better life. These include children who are chronically ill or profoundly disabled, those who've been badly treated by the adults around them, children who live in poverty or inadequate housing, and some who are bullied, excluded or distressed.

Last year £34.2 million was raised for charity from donations, fundraising events and other things such as charity auctions.


This year, as every year, the BBC want to raise more cash. I will be updating this thread with the current total for the next few hours then when a major milestone is reached.


BBC Children in Need


Current total: £1,141,961 / $1,963,716 At 19:50

Update at 20:11 -

Current total: £3,092,360 / $5,317,622!

Update at 21:17 -

Current total: £5,436,360 / $9,348,365!

[Woodmonkey]

Wonderful, Anth! Looks like it is growing by leaps and bounds.

here's a link to a converter - http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/co...submit=Convert

[Anth]

Cheers Katie

Edited with the USD conversion

[Anth]

Final update of tonight from me. I will update whenever I get up tomorrow

Current total: £7,011,735 / $12,057,380!

£7 million raised in 3 hours. Just think what it will be when I surface in 12 hours time!

[Anth]

Bloody hell! It has shot up over the past 14 hours or so!

Current total: £17,235,256 / $29,611,893!

[Snowden]

That's amazing, Anth - and wonderful. Is it still growing like this??

[Anth]

The main fundraising event is over now, but there will be people donating still. When the banks open on Monday we will probably see a big jump again.

The BBC site hasnt been updated with the latest total yet, but when I see it I will update