Putting the FUN in fundraising
The BBC launched its first children’s charity appeal 90 years ago. MARION MCMULLEN looks back at the TV specials which led to the birth of Children In Need
IT BEGAN with a five-minute BBC radio broadcast on Christmas Day, 1927.
The appeal hoped to raise some money to help children and the short broadcast led to listeners donating £1,143, 18 shillings and three pennies which was split between four charities and spent on presents and holidays for disabled and underprivileged youngsters.
Before Pudsey appeared on the scene, it was another yellow bear who launched the first television appeal. Glove puppet Sooty and Harry Corbett presented the 1955 Children’s Hour Christmas Appeal and the fundraising special went on to be hosted by a variety of presenters including Eamonn Andrews and Leslie Crowther. The BBC appeal became a TV and radio regular right up until 1979 – raising a total of £625,836 over the years.
Radio 2 Breakfast Show rising star Terry Wogan made his debut appearance on the fundraiser in 1978 and joined Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen for the launch of the new-style Children In Need telethon on BBC 1 in 1980.
It captured the public’s imagination and £1 million was raised for the first time. The telethon was the brainchild of Mark Patterson and he went on to be the executive producer of the appeal show for the next nine years.
Terry Wogan loomed large over the charity event and was joined by a diverse line-up over the years including Joanna Lumley, Sue Cook, Gaby Roslin, Natasha Kaplinsky, Fearne Cotton and Tess Daly.
The veteran broadcaster hosted the annual BBC charity event for 35 years until 2015 when poor health forced him to pull out and he passed away in 2016, after a battle with cancer.
Tess, who is part of the presenting team for this year’s Children In Need on Friday, says she will always remember working with Terry on the live shows. “He was so generous with his time and he was so lovely and effortless. I can still remember standing next to him listening to those dulcet Irish tones you have grown up with. He was such a gentleman,” she says.
“Last year was the first time without him and you couldn’t help but think about him when we were in the studio. I missed him physically being there in the room.
“He took the fundraising side very seriously and he hosted lunches at his house.
“He was so much part of BBC Children in Need. He would have been so proud by the amount we raised last year. All that mattered to him was the children and raising money. He took it so seriously and he got so involved in it.”
Fellow presenter Ade Adepitan, who contracted polio when he was just 15 months old, grew up watching Children In Need and the appeal helped him personally when he was at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
He is proud to be among those carrying on Sir Terry’s legacy and says: “BBC Children in Need takes me back to my childhood of when we watched it at home – the entertainment, performances, comedy, all of that. There are heart wrenching stories and people who it’s helping but it is also the fun and laughter of the night. “It says however hard things are and whatever bad things you are going through, we can always smile. They can stop you from doing a lot of things but they can’t stop you smiling.” More than £909 million has been raised over the years for children and young people across the UK and the appeal reached its highest total ever last year raising £60 million.
Children In Need mascot Pudsey made his television debut in 1985. He was created by BBC graphics designer Joanna Ball and she named him after the West Yorkshire town where she was born.
Terry Wogan even designed his own Irish Pudsey in 2013 as part of the VIP collection and sent his apologies when he had to pull out of the 36th appeal show because of ill health.
He said: “So, here we are on the 36th edition of Children in Need, every one of which I’ve been proud to present since it started in 1980, and for the first time, I won’t be there, to cheer you on with word and gesture to another record-breaking year. The show will go on, bigger and better than ever.”
He added: “I’m going to miss our wonderful, inspiring evening together, but I’ll be with you, watching, cheering and donating to a magnificent cause.”
Children In Need can be seen on BBC 1 and BBC 2 on Friday, from 7.30pm. You can make a donation by going to bbc.co.uk/pudsey or by calling 0345 7 33 22 33. (Standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles apply)