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Birmingham Children's Hospital and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM are celebrating reaching the magical £1million mark for the Kidney Kids Appeal.

The momentous milestone was achieved this week and announced this morning (Friday) on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM's Phil Upton @ Breakfast programme, a little under a year after the appeal was launched by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM and Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM Kidney Kids Appeal is a campaign which aims to make a big difference to the lives of children receiving kidney treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The appeal hopes to raise £1.5million for a new kidney unit at one of the world's leading children's hospitals.

The unit treats children with a range of kidney problems, and 1,500 young patients visit the nephrology (kidney) and urology department every year to receive dialysis and other treatments, including transplants.

Since the launch of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM Kidney Kids Appeal in July 2008, the station has organised a range of money-raising schemes and events to help reach the magical £1million, including old mobile collection points; jewellery collections; a Soul and Motown party; sponsored bike rides; a football mascot race and a Big Sit Still where 12,500 school children from across the West Midlands took part in a sponsored sit still and quiet time during a lesson or break-time.

People from across the region have also given up their time to work tirelessly towards raising £1million for the appeal, with local and national celebrities chipping in too: Dragons' Den stars Theo Pathitis, Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan have all donated £1,000 each, with Dave Heeley (aka Blind Dave) running in the London Marathon to raise money towards the current total.

Keith Beech, Managing Editor, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM, says: "All of us at ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has got involved and made a contribution to the Kidney Kids Appeal. The response from people across the West Midlands has been fantastic."

He continues: "It's great news that we've reached the one million pound mark but the work doesn't stop there. If these children are going to get the very best new facilities that they deserve we still need people to continue to support the appeal."

Further information on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ WM Kidney Kids Appeal and the events that have helped raise the total so far can be found at: bbc.co.uk/birmingham/local_radio/.

BG