Text Santa
| Text Santa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presented by | Phillip Schofield Christine Bleakley Ant & Dec Holly Willoughby Paddy McGuinness (2012–) |
| Composer | Leigh Haggerwood |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Production location | The London Studios |
| Running time | 65, 150 mins. (2011) 180 mins. (2012) |
| Production company | ITV Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV, STV, UTV |
| Release | 11 December 2011 – present |
| Related | |
| From the Heart | |
Text Santa is a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK charities during the Christmas period.[1] The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise.[2][3] The telethon first aired in 2011 and was originally hosted by Phillip Schofield, Christine Bleakley, Holly Willoughby and Ant & Dec. Paddy McGuinness joined them to co-present the 2012 telethon.[4][5]
Charities
All of the money raised gets split between the charities supported by the appeal, these are:
| 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Carers UK | |
| Crisis | Anthony Nolan |
| Help the Hospices | Age UK |
| Samaritans | Marie Curie Cancer Care |
| WRVS | Together For Short Lives |
| Great Ormond Street Hospital | Whizz-Kidz |
| The Noah's Ark Appeal | — |
| Helping Hand | — |
| Yorkhill Children's Foundation | — |
Fundraising
Totals
Totals raised are announced a few days after the show has been broadcast. In 2011, the total was announced by Holly Willoughby on This Morning, but as of 2012, the totals are announced during the main show.
| Event | Final total |
|---|---|
| 2011 | £4,120,000 |
| 2012 | £6,500,000 (as of 21/12/12) |
Merchandise
Merchandise including santa hats and greetings cards have been available to buy from the Text Santa website with all profits going to the charities.
Music
The Text Santa theme music was created by British composer Leigh Haggerwood of The Florin Street Band, who re-worked his Christmas song "My Favourite Time of Year" especially for the appeal, creating theme and background music along with various other original compositions. The song - with its sweeping string melodies and critically acclaimed Victorian-themed music video - has gained worldwide popularity and was recently performed by the United States Army Band in Washington D.C. Leigh Haggerwood is proud of the songs association with the Text Santa campaign and has pledged to support it each year.
2011 appeal
The 2011 appeal, aired in two parts. The launch show aired on Sunday 11 December and was hosted by Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley. The main show aired on Saturday 24 December and was hosted by Ant & Dec with Holly Willoughby.
| Show | Date | Time Slots | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Show | Sunday 11 December 2011 | 21:30-22:35 | Phillip Schofield & Christine Bleakley |
| Main Show | Saturday 24 December 2011 | 19:30-21:00 | Ant & Dec |
| 21:00-22:00 | Holly Willoughby |
On 27 November 2011, at The Kia Oval Cricket Ground, thousands of people attempted a Guinness World Record for the largest Santa gathering. Stephen Mulhern and Diversity entertained the participants. However not enough people turned out for the record attempt of 13,200 Santas.
2012 appeal
The first hour of the telethon was hosted by Ant & Dec, the second by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and the third by Christine Bleakley and Paddy McGuinness, all from The London Studios.
| Show | Date | Timeslots | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text Santa Starts Here (launch show) |
Friday 21 December 2012 | 18:55-19:00 | Ant & Dec |
| Main show | 20:00-21:00 | ||
| 21:00-22:00 | Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby | ||
| 22:00-23:00 | Paddy McGuinness and Christine Bleakley | ||
| Text Santa: One More Time (highlights show) |
24:00-1:15 | Ant & Dec, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Paddy McGuinness and Christine Bleakley |
Within other shows
- A special edition of The Jeremy Kyle Show aired at 09:25 featuring people with many disabilities and talked about how the Text Santa charities helped them and their families get through their difficulties. Kyle treated these people with special trips and featured a guest appearance from Only Boys Aloud.
- A special edition of Dickinson's Real Deal from Ilford aired at 15:00 for Text Santa.[6]
- A celebrity special of The Chase aired at 17:00 on Friday 21 December for Text Santa, featuring Bradley Walsh as host with contestants Lorraine Kelly, Craig Charles, Jamelia and Dom Joly. Together they raised £22,000 for the Text Santa charities.[7]
- A special edition of Celebrity Juice aired on ITV & UTV at 23.15, and on STV at midnight on 21 December and was once again be presented by Keith Lemon, Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby with panellists Davina McCall, Louis Smith, Aston Merrygold, Stacey Solomon and Simon Gregson.[8][9]
- Laura Hamilton and Jeff Brazier presented a special 45-minute CITV programme at 16:00 on Friday 21 December called Text Santa: CITV Special.[10]
Events
- On 2 December 2012, around 8,500 people took part in a 'Santa Dash' in Liverpool, attempting a Guinness World Record for the largest Santa gathering whilst raising money for Text Santa, however they didn't break the record of 13,200 santas.[11]
- On 6 December 2012, the Biggest Bag Pack Ever took place in 200 Asda stores nationwide,[12] celebrities including Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford helped out in the Watford branch.[13][14]
- eBay auctions took place to raise money for Text Santa, items sold included This Morning's sofa which sold for £1,200 and a tour of the Daybreak studios in London which sold for £510.[15]
References
- ^ Nine charities to benefit from ITV's Text Santa campaign | UK Fundraising
- ^ JustTextGiving to power ITV's Text Santa campaign | UK Fundraising
- ^ http://your.asda.com/2011/11/26/asda-text-santa-hats
- ^ Paddy McGuinness joins Ant & Dec, Schofield for second 'Text Santa' - TV News - Digital Spy
- ^ http://www.itv.com/presscentre/pressreleases/programmepressreleases/textsanta2012/default.html
- ^ http://digiguide.tv/programme-details/ITV1+London/21+December+2012/15:00/Dickinson%27s+Real+Deal/Consumer/
- ^ http://digiguide.tv/programme-details/ITV1+London/21+December+2012/17:00/The+Chase/Quiz+Show/
- ^ http://www.itv.com/presscentre/celebrityjuice/ep15week51/default.html
- ^ http://digiguide.tv/pick-of-the-day/21+December+2012/comedy-celebrity-juice-text-santa-christmas-special/
- ^ http://digiguide.tv/programme-details/CITV+%28Freeview%29/21+December+2012/16:00/Text+Santa%3A+CITV+Special/Childrens/
- ^ Thousands turn out for Liverpool Santa dash | Granada - ITV News
- ^ The Biggest Bag Pack Ever! - ASDA and Text Santa - ITV
- ^ Official Ruth Langsford
- ^ Official Eamonn Holmes
- ^ http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2012-12-19/text-santa-bidding-for-tv-history/
External links
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