The BBC Children in Need Appeal Night went down a treat this year, with the support of the public at an all-time high.
Friday night’s six-hour show, hosted by Sir Terry Wogan alongside Tess Daly, Fearne Cotton, Zoe Ball and Nick Grimshaw, raised a record-breaking amount of £31,124,896, smashing last year’s total of £26 million.
Merseyside did its bit with numerous events and fundraisers about town, including central store, Build-A-Bear Workshop, partnering with the BBC Children in Need to host a ‘Pudsey Party’.
Shoppers could create their own Children in Need mascot, stuffing it themselves and adding the Build-A-Bear signature heart. They also got to dress the bear in the official pyjama outfits. Each sale of a Pudsey or a Blush Bear allowed £5 to be donated to the BBC’s charity.
Liverpool FC players Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Lucas Leiva also got involved, featuring on the show after a visit to a local school. The football trio’s visit to Anfield Juniors was filmed, as they thanked schoolchildren from all over the country for their hard work and dedication to the charity, aiding the fundraising.
The feature showed the players leading their own teams of budding footballers, competing against each other and even taking part in a traditional egg and spoon race.
Captain Steven Gerrard told LFCTV: “BBC Children in Need is a fantastic charity and it’s great to come out and support the work that they do. Kids from up and down the country have been coming together to raise money for Children in Need, and we wanted to come along and say thank you.”
The annual telethon has been running since 1980 and is expecting more donations over the next few days. Sir Terry said he was extremely pleased with the generosity of the British people: “It’s been a staggering total, it’s beyond our wildest dreams, over £31m for this country’s disadvantaged children. I want to thank you, thank you so much for your contributions, thank you.”
The staggering amount of funds was raised in the same week that the UK public donated £30m to the Philippines Disaster Emergency Committee appeal.