What do you get if you had a big of ideas, including [fundraising], [teddy bears], [celebrities], [television], [sponsorship], and [Terry Wogan], and mixed them all up? You would get Children in Need, a yearly charity event by the [BBC], that runs a programme taking up a whole evening to various acts, inspiring people to donate money. The charity helps children and young people in the [UK].

Maybe "inspire" is the wrong word here. It typically features whichever celebrities were available on the night. However, don't think of a simple low-class production, for this is no minor event - last year over £17 million was raised for the charity, with over £34 million overall; and this year the record was broken.

Children in Need has its beginnings in [1927], when over £1000 was raised in a five-minute radio broadcast. This was eventually moved onto television in [1955]. However, it was given its first major lift in [1980] - it turned into an evening-long [telethon], and [Terry Wogan], [Sue Lawley] and [Esther Rantzen] became the presenters. This new format raised over £1 million during the year that it ran. The organisers, sticking with a winning formula, kept it that way since.

The main events of the show are the celebrities. This year, the [BBC News] presenters got together and sang [Queen]'s [Bohemian Rhapsody], and it was absolutely awful. However, it's all a bit of fun - it seems that the audience enjoys the newsreaders making fools of themselves, and the donations tend to spike upwards after any such event.

Also shown was the new short [Doctor Who - The Children in Need Special 2005|Doctor Who special], as a sort of preface to the main episode this [Christmas]. There are musical acts, local events, and short films, after which everyone involved shouts out the magic donation phone number.

Many groups of people turn up in the audience to present [large novelty cheques] for the money that they have raised. Even though the sums given by groups of people often amount to tens of thousands of pounds, there's still a ticker thanking everyone who donates hundreds and even tens of pounds - the viewers really are urged to give "any penny that they can spare".

The show's mascot is a yellow [teddy bear] by name of [Pudsey], named after a village in West [Yorkshire] where the designer came from. It has a bandage over one eye, and its sitting-down, relaxed pose is its most recognisable pose throughout the UK.

Despite all the music, celebrities, featurettes and goings on, the real aim of the show is not forgotten. The viewers are shown real people who have helped - children with [birth defects], children with [disabled|disabilities], and children recovering from [violence] and [sexual abuse].

If there's anything that people can criticise about the show, it's that "you need to dress charity up with music and celebrities to get people to notice it". I don't know about anyone else, but I'm all for anything that helps desperate children, and this manages to deliver charity to common people and gives them a sense that they can still do their bit.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey]: BBC main page
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/donate]: Donation page
The magic phone numbers: 08457 33 22 33

Update, the day after: broken record, again!

Children in Need (idea)