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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need 2007

Did you know?

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• Since 1980, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Appeal has raised over £450m for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

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• The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Television Appeal was first broadcast in the telethon format in 1980. It was presented by Terry Wogan – with help from Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen – and Sir Terry will return for the 28th ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Appeal this November.

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• Last year's ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Appeal was on Friday 17 November. A record-breaking total of £18.3m was raised on the night, with the help of performances from McFly, Girls Aloud, Keane, Connie Fisher and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Newsreaders.

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• The Appeal Show has always been a favourite amongst TV viewers. Last year it was watched by an average audience of 7.7m people and peaked at 9.3m.

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• 213,000 telephone calls were received on the night while 30,000 people donated online at bbc.co.uk/pudsey.

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• In the ten months following Appeal Night, donations from fundraisers, schools and businesses around the UK continued to pour in and the 2006 Appeal total eventually topped £33m.

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• BBc Radio 2 raises incredible amounts of money for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need every year through their Music Marathon and auction of Things That Money Can't Buy. Last year, one listener pledged £47,000 to travel to Finland and see the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest filmed with Terry Wogan.

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• The TOGs – listeners to Terry Wogan's Radio 2 Breakfast Show, otherwise known as Terry's Old Geezers or Gals – raised more than any other organisation last year. Their 2006 total of £1.5m included a one-off payment from the Treasury of nearly £300,000 (equivalent to the VAT collected on sales of the TOGs calendar and the first Janet and John CD).

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• ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need enjoyed chart success this summer with Lee Mead's recording of Any Dream Will Do. It reached number two in the UK charts and was only kept off the top spot by Rihanna's prophetic 'Umbrella'! So far, Lee's recording debut has already raised £57,000 for the charity.

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• This year, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need distributed grants to 1,350 different organisations in the UK. The average size of a grant this year was £24,424, with the amounts ranging from £200 to £1,750,000.

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• For every penny donated, a penny will go towards projects supporting children and young people in the UK. ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need are able to make this promise because the charity uses its investment income to cover all operational costs raised.

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• The 2007 ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Appeal is on Friday 16 November.

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• Lee Mead will open this year's show at 7pm on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One with a live performance of Any Dream Will Do, before rushing back to the West End for a slightly later than usual performance of Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat. All box office receipts from this performance will be donated to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need.

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• The Spice Girls are releasing the official song for this year's ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need Appeal on Monday 19 November. The single – Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) – is one of two songs that the five-piece have recorded for their Greatest Hits album.

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• Scotland's Tartan Army have recorded backing vocals for Runrig's anthemic Loch Lomond, another single being released in aid of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need on Monday 12 November. Over 50,000 voices were captured at Hampden Stadium during Scotland's European Championship qualifier match against Ukraine.

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• 250,000 fundraising packs will be sent out this year and thousands of fundraising events will be held to support ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need.

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• This year the fundraising theme is "Do Something Different" in recognition of the fact that fundraisers around the UK – from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ newsreaders, to schools and businesses – often embrace the silly or unusual to raise money for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children in Need.

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• Fundraisers have already contacted us to share some of the fundraising activities planned for this year's appeal. A school in Teesdale will be transforming their canteen into a fine dining restaurant; young firefighters in Swansea will be climbing ladders to the equivalent height of Mount Everest; and the staff of Alton Towers will be holding a sleepover in a haunted castle.

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• Fifty two call centres will be set up around the UK on the night, with nearly 3,000 live phone lines ready to take donations on 0845 733 2233.

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• A recent study conducted at the University of Oregon found neural evidence that charitable giving activates the same area of the brain that responds to rewards – like chocolate or positive social contact. In other words, philanthropy can give you a warm glow and that's why giving feels so good!

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