Children in Need

BBC Children in Need
Children in Need logo featuring Pudsey Bear 2007–present
Genre	Charity Telethon
Presented by	Sir Terry Wogan Fearne Cotton Tess Daly Nick Grimshaw (See full list)
Narrated by	Alan Dedicoat
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Location(s)	BBC TV Centre (1980–2012) Elstree Studios (2013–)
Camera setup	Multiple
Running time	Various
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	November 1980 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Comic Relief (since 1985)
External links
Website

BBC Children in Need (also promoted as Plant Mewn Angen in Wales) is the BBC's UK charity. Since 1980 it has raised over £600 million to change the lives of disabled children and young people in the UK. One of the highlights is an annual telethon, held in November and televised on BBC One and BBC One HD from 7:30pm until 2am. "Pudsey Bear" is BBC Children in Need's mascot, whilst Terry Wogan is a long-standing host. BBC Children in Need is one of three high-profile British telethons, although the only charity belonging to the BBC, the other telethons being Red Nose Day and Sport Relief, both supporting the Comic Relief charity. The 2012 appeal took place on Friday 16 November, marking the last Children in Need broadcast from Television Centre at least until renovation of the site is complete in 2015.

History

Earlier BBC appeals

The BBC's first broadcast charity appeal 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, and was donated to four children's charities. The first televised appeal took place in 1955 and was called the Children's Hour Christmas Appeal, with the yellow glove puppet Sooty Bear and Harry Corbett fronting it. The Christmas Day Appeals continued on TV and radio until 1979. 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. Sometimes cartoon characters such as Peter Pan were used.

BBC Children in Need

BBC Television Centre on the night of the 2008 telethon.

Pudsey Bear raising funds for BBC Children in Need 2009.

In 1980, the BBC held its first telethon, a single programme lasting a whole evening, devoted to raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the United Kingdom. The new format, presented by Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen, saw a dramatic increase in public donations: £1 million was raised that year. The telethon format has been retained each year since and grown in scope to incorporate further events broadcast on radio and online. As a regular presenter, Wogan has become firmly associated with the annual event, continuing to front the event through into 2012 after scaling down his other BBC commitments.

In 1988, BBC Children in Need became a registered charity (number 802052) in England and Wales, followed by registration in Scotland (SC039557) in 2008.

Totals

Totals raised are announced throughout the telethon show with the final amount raised being announced at the final minute of broadcast of the telethon. On 19 November 2011 at 02.00 GMT the appeal had raised a new record of £26,332,334 which broke all previous records for the appeal night total. The final total for each Appeal is much greater than the total on the Appeal night show, with £46 million set to be awarded to projects throughout 2012.

Event	Broadcast total	Final total
1980	£1,000,000	£1,000,587
1981	–
1982	–
1983	–	£1,689,989
1984	–
1985	–	£4,470,000
1986	£5,264,665	£8,600,000
1987	–
1988	–	£17,500,000
1989	–
1990	–
1991	£17,182,724
1992	–
1993	–
1994	£12,012,524
1995	–
1996	£12m	£18.7m
1997	£12,034,235	£20.9
1998	£11,380,888	£18,000,000
1999	£11,639,053	£17,000,000
2000	£12,244,764	£20,000,000
2001	£12,895,853	£25,000,000
2002	£13,500,000	£26,000,000
2003	£15,305,212	£32,000,000
2004	£17,156,175	£34,200,000
2005	£17,235,256	£33,200,000
2006	£18,300,392	£33,600,000
2007	£19,089,771	£37,500,000
2008	£20,991,216	£38,500,000
2009	£20,309,747	£40,200,000
2010	£18,098,199	£36,600,000
2011	£26,332,334	£46,000,000
2012	£26,757,446	–

Sources

The appeal gains the majority of its money from donations by individuals who may themselves have raised the funds by taking part in sponsored events. Being sponsored to sit in a bath of baked beans is a common favourite, as are cake sales. Companies also donate money, either directly or benefits in kind, such as HSBC donating banking facilities, and BT donating telephone lines and operators.

On the night of the televised appeal, donations are solicited through entertainment acts, intermixed with featurettes showing what the money will be used for. The total raised so far during the telethon is frequently flashed on screen, with presenters urging viewers to part with "any penny they can spare" to help push the total beyond the target milestone.

Fundraising activity also extends across the BBC's other television channels and national and local radio channels. Before the start of the telethon, BBC Radio 2 hosts four days of fund-raising for Children In Need. The Radio 2 events culminate with a music marathon, ending just as the telethon starts. For the last few years, Radio 2 listeners have been able to raise in excess of £2 million.

Beneficiaries

The money contributed to Children in Need is distributed to organisations supporting children in the UK aged 18 and under who have mental, physical or sensory disorders; behavioural or psychological disorders; are living in poverty or situations of deprivation; or suffering through distress, sexual abuse or neglect.

Telethon

Acts

The telethon features performances from many top singers and groups, with many by celebrities also appearing on the seven-hour long programme performing various activities such as sketches or musical numbers. Featured celebrities often include those from programmes on rival network ITV, including some appearing in-character, and/or from the sets of their own programmes. A performance by BBC newsreaders has become an annual fixture. Stars of newly opened West End musicals regularly perform a number from their show later in the evening after "curtain call" in their respective theatres.

Broadcast

The BBC devotes the entire night's programming on its flagship channel BBC One to the Children in Need telethon, with the exception of 35 minutes at 10 o'clock while BBC News at Ten, Weather and Regional News airs, and activity continues on BBC Two with special programming, such as Mastermind Children in Need, which is a form of Celebrity Mastermind, with four celebrities answering questions on a chosen subject and on general knowledge. In recent years, before the telethon itself the BBC has broadcast Children in Need specials of The One Show, in which hosts Matt Baker and Alex Jones did a rickshaw challenge and a celebrity version of Pointless in which Pudsey assists hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman.

Unlike the other BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, Children in Need relies a lot on the BBC regions for input into the telethon night. The BBC English regions all have around 5–8 minute round-ups every hour during the telethon. This does not interrupt the schedule of items shown from BBC Television Centre as the host Terry Wogan usually hands over to the regions, giving those in the main network studio a short break. However BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland do opt out of the network schedule with a lot of local fundraising news and activities from their broadcast area. Usually they will go over to the network broadcast at various times of the night, and usually they will show some network items later than when the English regions will see them. This is to give the BBC nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a much larger slot than the BBC English regions because the "nations" comprise a distinct audience of the BBC. Usually BBC Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland hand back to network coverage from around 1:00 am in the telethon night. For the 2010 appeal this changed, with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales deciding not to have their usual opt-outs and instead following the English regions' pattern of having updates every hour.

Presenters

Years	Presenter
1980–present	Sir Terry Wogan
2005–present	Fearne Cotton
2008–present	Tess Daly
2012–present	Nick Grimshaw
1980–82	Sue Lawley
1980–87	Esther Rantzen
1983–88	Joanna Lumley
1986–92	Sue Cook
1989–92	Jill Dando
1993–94	Andi Peters
1994–2004	Gaby Roslin
2005	Matt Allwright
2005–06	Natasha Kaplinsky
2008–11	Alesha Dixon
2009–10	Peter Andre

Logo

The original logo, used from 1980 to 1984

The old Pudsey bear and logo, used from 1986 to 2006

The mascot that fronts the Children in Need appeal is called "Pudsey Bear", created in 1985 by BBC graphic designer Joanna Ball. The bear was named after her hometown of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, where her grandfather was mayor. A reproduction of the bear mascot (made of vegetation) is in Pudsey park, near the town centre. Originally introduced for the 1985 appeal as a brown bear, the design was amended the following year to a yellow bear with a bandage over one eye, becoming also the official logo of the campaign. In 2007 Pudsey and the logo were redesigned. By 2009, Pudsey had been joined by another bear, a brown female bear named "Blush". She has a spotty bow with the pattern similar to Pudsey's bandanna pattern, continuing into 2010.

Ratings

Episode No.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	Weekly Ranking
19	26 November 1999	6.61	29
20	24 November 2000
21	16 November 2001	7.12	20
22	15 November 2002	7.56	8
23	21 November 2003	10.49	4
24	21 November 2003	5.33	29
25	19 November 2004	8.48	7
26	19 November 2004	4.77	27
27	18 November 2005	9.07	7
28	18 November 2005	4.59	28
29	17 November 2006	7.72	6
30	16 November 2007	9.56	3
31	16 November 2007	4.48	28
32	14 November 2008	9.83	4
33	14 November 2008	4.82	27
34	20 November 2009	10.08	1
35	20 November 2009	4.50	27
36	19 November 2010	9.36	4
37	19 November 2010	4.79	22
38	18 November 2011	10.26	3
39	18 November 2011
40	16 November 2012
41	16 November 2012

Official singles

Year	Artist(s)	Song(s)	Chart
1985	Clannad	Almost Seems (Too Late to Turn)	DNC
1986	Suzi Quatro with Bronski Beat and Various Artists	Heroes	72
1988	Spirit of Play with Paul McCartney	Children In Need	DNC
1989	Clannad	Almost Seems (Too Late to Turn)	DNC
1995	Patsy Palmer and Sid Owen	You Better Believe It (Children in Need)	60
1997	Lou Reed and Various Artists	Perfect Day	1
1998	Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan featuring Steps	Especially for You	3
1999	Martine McCutcheon	Love Me	6
2000	S Club 7	Never Had a Dream Come True	1
2001	S Club 7	Have You Ever	1
2002	Will Young	Don't Let Me Down / You and I	2
2003	Shane Richie	I'm Your Man	2
2004	Girls Aloud	I'll Stand by You	1
2005	Liberty X	A Night to Remember	6
2006	Emma Bunton	Downtown	3
2007	Spice Girls	Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)	11
2008	McFly	Do Ya/Stay with Me	18
2009	Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band	The Official BBC Children in Need Medley	1
2010	JLS	Love You More	1
2011	The Collective	Teardrop	24
2012	Girls Aloud	Something New	2

• The Collective includes Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Wretch 32, Ed Sheeran, Ms. Dynamite, Chipmunk, Mz Bratt, Dot Rotten, Labrinth, Rizzle Kicks and Tinchy Stryder.

Criticism

Although Children in Need is welcomed by a large proportion of the British public, there are some who offer an alternative view, that the portrayal of children, particularly disabled children, as victims is unfortunate and counter-productive. It is argued that a change in social attitudes will benefit the disadvantaged more than money and public sympathy.

In November 2006, Intelligent Giving published an article about Children in Need, which attracted wide attention across the British media. The article, titled "Four things wrong with Pudsey", described donations to Children in Need as a "lazy and inefficient way of giving" and pointed out that, as a grant-giving charity, Children in Need would use donations to pay two sets of administration costs. It also described the quality of some of its public reporting as "shambolic".

In 2007, it was reported that Terry Wogan, as the show's host, had been receiving an annual honorarium since 1980 (amounting to £9,065 in 2005). This made him the only celebrity paid for his participation in Children in Need. Wogan, however, stated that he would "quite happily do it for nothing" and had "never asked for a fee". The BBC stated that the amount, which was paid from BBC resources and not from the Children in Need charity fund, had "never been negotiated", having instead increased in line with inflation. Two days before the 2007 event, it was reported that Wogan had waived his compensation.

There has also been concern about the type of groups receiving funding from Children in Need. Writing in The Spectator, Ross Clark noted how funding goes towards controversial groups such as Women in Prison, which campaigns against jailing female criminals. Another charity highlighted was the Children’s Legal Centre, which provided funding for Shabina Begum to sue her school as she wanted to wear the Jilbab. Clark pondered whether donors seeing cancer victims on screen would appreciate "that a slice of their donation would be going into the pockets of Cherie Blair to help a teenage girl sue her school over her refusal to wear a school uniform".

See also

• ITV Telethon
• Text Santa

External links

• Children in Need at BBC Programmes
• Children in Need at the Internet Movie Database