Friday night’s Children in Need telethon raised £26,757,446, an increase of more than £400,000 on the night in 2011.
Last year the appeal night total was £26.3m with a final total of £46.9m. This year is the 33rd appeal and the total is expected to rise when funds collected from events that took place is received.
David Ramsden, chief executive of Children in Need said: “Tonight’s total is phenomenal. It is amazing that people across the UK have once again come together to raise such a massive sum.”
Sir Terry Wogan, BBC Children in Need lifetime president, hosted the show alongside Fearne Cotton, Tess Daly and Nick Grimshaw. Girls Aloud recorded this year’s Children in Need fundraising single, 'Something New', and performed twice on the night. One Direction, Little Mix, Paloma Faith, Leona Lewis, Stooshe, Example, Ellie Goulding and Charlotte Church also performed on the night.
In the lead-up to the night Radio 2 raised £4m and the One Show’s Rickshaw challenge raised £1.1m. Corporate fundraising partners this year included Asda, Boots, Costco, B&Q, Greggs and BT.
Children in Need makes grants to charities working with disadvantaged children in the UK and currently supports around 2,600 projects.
This year's show came in the shadow of the sexual abuse scandal involving late presenter Jimmy Savile and other high-profile figures, in which the BBC has been implicated. Sir Terry alluded to ongoing investigations, saying: “Here at Children in Need we know that children are vulnerable, the news in recent weeks been an awful reminder of how true that can be.”
Last month the charity’s former chairman, Sir Roger Jones, revealed that disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile had been banned from involvement with the charity because he was “creepy”.
