It’s that time of the year again – as BBC Children in Need looks to raise millions of pounds for charities. And Rotary clubs will once again be at the forefront of the fundraising.
BBC Children in Need is currently supporting over 2,700 projects in the UK, which is helping children and young people to face up to a range of disadvantages.
These include poverty, being disabled or ill, experiencing distress, neglect or trauma.
This Friday, Rotary’s Purple4Polio ambassador, Ade Adepitan, will be one of the presenters for this year’s appeal show, which will be screened live on BBC One from 7.30pm.
Polio sufferer Ade, who has been at the forefront of Rotary’s campaign to eradicate the disease, will kick-start the show on Friday evening with Tess Daly.
And he has admitted that BBC Children in Need helped to inspire him to play wheelchair basketball, eventually winning a bronze medal for Great Britain at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
The work that BBC Children in Need do across the UK is just so important.”
He said: “I grew up playing wheelchair basketball at Stoke Mandeville.
“I remember when I was in the junior championships when BBC Children in Need used to host part of their show there, and they would support the players, helping us to get money for new chairs and sports equipment.
“It’s probably one of the earliest times when I found out that something so influential wanted to support us, and that means so much.
“The work that BBC Children in Need do across the UK is just so important.
“In my childhood, if I hadn’t had help from BBC Children in Need, then who knows? I may not have been the player that I am today.”
One of the fundraisers with Ade and BBC Children in Need will be featuring on Friday evening is The One’s Show Rickshaw Challenge.
This is a gruelling 423 mile cycle ride, involving six young people, cycling in a rickshaw from Calais to Salford.
Along the route, they have been supported by Rotary clubs who have been collecting money for the charity at the various stop-overs.
Elsewhere, Rotary clubs across Great Britain and Ireland will be involved in a host of different events for BBC Children in Need.
These include a number of giant Pudsey raffles, taking part in the Countryfile Ramble and holding supermarket and street collections.
In my childhood, if I hadn’t had help from BBC Children in Need, then who knows? I may not have been the player that I am today.”
Rotary’s biggest BBC Children in Need fundraiser returns to Heathrow Airport this Friday.
Aspiring for sky high figures, the collection led by Misbourne Matins Rotary and Marlow Thames Rotary hopes to raise £35,000 on the day.
Joining them will be other members from Thames Valley.
Six months after Tom Atkinson reached the national final of Young Chef, he designed and cooked a three-course meal for BBC Children in Need.
The 16-year-old from North Wales served poached stuffed chicken breast, Marsala wine and chive cream sauce, fondant potato, carrots, green beans wrapped in courgette ribbon for the main course.
The Ruthin-based restaurant, On The Hill, hosted the event which, along with a street collection, raised a total of £2,350.
On November 3rd, Rotary Horsham in West Sussex raised £4,000 from a street party and market stall, while Rotary Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire was one of a number of Rotary club who raised thousands of pounds with Pudsey school visits – theirs raised £5,000.
BBC announcer Alan Dedicoat, who voices Strictly Come Dancing and the balls for the National Lottery show, will be hosting a charity quiz night at Catbrook Hall in the Wye Valley near Chepstow.
Organised by Rotary Kinver on Friday, November 23rd, proceeds will be going to BBC Children in Need.
Last year Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland donated £134,000, but Paul Fisher, Rotary’s BBC Children in Need co-ordinator, hopes that this year will raise the bar to a new level.
Aiming for £150,000, Paul thinks this is within reach thanks to two new fundraising ideas.
He said: “We’ve got two new things this year which are the Giant Pudsey Raffle and Countryfile Rambles. Both are great initiatives which are in their infancy.”
