BBC Children in Need

It’s been another busy day here at the Head Office as we’ve been raising money for BBC Children in Need. We gave all of our staff the option to dress down for the day in exchange for a three-pound donation. 

We also organised a bake sale so that everyone got the opportunity to tuck into tasty cakes while raising money for this incredible cause. 

It’s not just here in Head Office our branches have been out and about doing their bit too. At our Wrexham dealership, the team were lucky enough to see the  BBC Rickshaw Challenge pass them. To celebrate they had a number of cars stickered up especially for Children in Need and parked them along the route Team Rickshaw would be passing through. 

The team at Wrexham also visited local businesses in the cars to drum up support and raise funds for Children in Need.      

The team at Scunthorpe have been busy too and managed to raise £40 throughout the day. 

All about BBC Children in Need

The BBC’s first ever broadcast appeal for children was a five-minute radio programme on Christmas Day in 1927. By 1955, the appeal had turned into a Children’s hour Christmas Appeal presented by Sooty and Harry Corbett. These Christmas Day appeals continued up until 1979 and raised over £625,000.  

In 1980 the decision was made to televise the appeal in a new telethon format hosted by Sir Terry (who continued to work closely with the charity throughout his life) with Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen. Pudsey bear followed five years later in 1985 and has become a key part of the charity, both as a mascot for the charity and as a means of generating income for the charity through merchandise. In fact, Pudsey has been so successful he has now been joined by another bear, Blush. 

Since 1980 BBC Children in Need has raised over £972 million, which has been used to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people around the UK. Unlike many large charities, none of the money raised for Children in Need goes abroad, it is all spent helping people in the UK. 

Children in Need has stayed dedicated to its original goal of ensuring every child in the UK has a childhood which is safe, secure and happy. To achieve this they provide grants to projects across the breadth of the UK which aim to support disadvantaged children fulfil their potential.