BBC Children in Need raises £18.3 million on the night
Howard Lake | 19 November 2006 | News
The 27th BBC Children in Need telethon has raised £18.3 million, with the final total expected to increase substantially over the next few months as the public send in funds that they have raised at events across the UK. Of this, £6.7 million was donated online.
BT handled 224,000 calls from viewers across the country during the telethon, with over 50 call centres in operation, as well as handling online donations
The largest of the telethon’s call centres was hosted on the 34th floor of BT Tower in London.
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Online fundraising options included online sponsorship, where supporters could create their own fundraising page. This service was provided by Artez.
BBC presenter, Nicky Campbell interviewed BT’s Pete Coles, who commented: “At peak times, the BT network was handling 65 calls every second! We’ve had more than 3,000 volunteers in more than over 50 call centres across the UK manning the phone lines.”
The seven-hour event was co-hosted by Terry Wogan, Natasha Kaplinsky and Fearne Cotton, and it linked BBC centres around the country.
During the event millionaire businessman Sir Tom Hunter pledged to give £1 million through his Hunter Foundation, provided that viewers matched his bid within the hour.
It is likely that the final total will pass the previous record of £33 million for Children in Need.
The charity says that “every single penny of your donation goes to an organisation that helps children – all the charity’s overheads are paid for through the interest earned on the money raised.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.