Radio show smashes record for Sunshine
HI Sunshine News Readers!
I hope you all had a wonderful bank holiday, its great to see the sunshine again and has definitely boosted my spirits.
My weekend has been a real emotional rollercoaster as I tuned into The Big Big Show 24 hour live fundraiser with 8K Live and NE Films. It was the perfect soundtrack to my bank holiday in the garden.
What started as a 24-hour event at 4pm on bank holiday Sunday is, as I type, still going strong and the guys have already broken two World broadcasting records for the longest podcast and the longest radio show!
Hosted by Simon Ferson and Gaz Davies, who are behind the popular Pod on the Tyne show which broadcasts each Sunday at 8pm and is watched by thousands, we’ve seen live pilates classes, crazy studio games and on air hair cuts!
In addition to all the madness there’s been live music from X Factor Finalists He Knows She Knows, well known local acts Alfie Dobson, Junior Turner and Abbie Lince to name but a few and we even went live to Tenerife for some fun in the sun!
The event was really important to the charity as it helped us share stories of some of the children and families we have supported, we had interviews with parents and videos of children with the equipment we have funded. It makes us so proud (and emotional!) to see the difference we have made.
The longest marathon radio talk show hosted by a team is 66 hr 6 min and 1 sec, and was achieved by Leila Naoui, Yassine Wada, Sirine Bahri and Bassem Sehili in Metline, Tunisia, on 22 March 2018.
The full attempt was broadcast through Radio Web Metline.
Our own Big Big Show passed the 66-hour mark at 10:30am on Wednesday 27th May taking the title, but they guys didn’t want to stop there and vowed to carry on even though exhaustion and fatigue were setting in.
Ferson said “The Biggest highlight for me was hitting the £6,500 mark and overtaking two major World Record milestones. The Longest Podcast was set at 36 hours and we reached this in our 2nd day of broadcast.
“The radio show record came in day three which is just amazing for us and the region.
“Passion and drive enabled us to stick to it and see this through and it was important to us to be able to support this fantastic charity.
“We have had a blast and really enjoyed the challenges we faced. Everyone has been amazing and really helpful; sending us plenty of love and support.
“It’s been a real pleasure and a delight to host this event and we are so pleased to have picked The Chronicle Sunshine Fund to be the beneficiaries of all the hard work done.”
The event has been a real labour of love and couldn’t have happened without the backing of some amazing local businesses like Craig Healthcare, Nova Radio and North East Films. 8K set themselves a fundraising target of £10,000 and are determined to reach it. With money still coming in from text to give and Just Giving functions we think they will smash it! I’ll update you on final figures in the coming weeks.
It’s been such a fun thing to be involved in and we are in awe of the stamina and determination of Simon and Gaz, they are our heroes! Thanks to everyone who tuned in, donated and sent messages of support via the live chat, you really boosted our hosts when they got tired.
Our thanks also to all of the local businesses who made the event such a success and have pledged to support the charity in the future, we look forward to working with them all and seeing what crazy ideas they come up with next all in the name of charity…