Radio breakfast show raises £30,000 for Diabetes charity
Howard Lake | 31 October 2007 | News
The Diabetes Research Institute has received £30,000 from the Christian O’Connell breakfast Show on Virgin Radio thanks to listener Darin Butler and Bee Gee Barry Gibb.
Christian O’Connell asked listeners to get celebrities to call into the show in his competition “Who’s Calling Christian”. Singer Barry Gibb was the winning celebrity and received £10,000 to donate to the charity of his choice, The Diabetes Research Institute.
The winning listener Darin Butler also received £20,000 for himself to do exactly what he wished with. He decided to donate the whole sum to The Diabetes Research Institute too.
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He said: “It’s a great charity and because diabetes has affected my family and of course Barry’s it just makes sense to support it.”
Butler had contacted the singer and urged the star to call in live from his Miami home at 2.30am. Gibb beat other celebrity contenders including Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Desmond Tutu and Josh Lucy to claim the final prize money.
Christian O’Connell, the Virgin Radio DJ behind the promotion, commented on Gibbs’ win. “I think thing that helped was the singing”, he said. “That’s what won the big cash! But I can’t believe that Darin has decided to donate all his money too – who knew a listener could be so generous!”
Last year’s Who’s Calling Christian was won by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who donated the winning prize money to The Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association and Tyne Youth and Community Centre.
The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show is on Virgin Radio, on weekday mornings from 6-10am.
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.