The Big Day In… leading up to The Big Night In

Across our radio stations, we will tomorrow get together to cheerlead for The Big Night In - an evening of special programming on BBC One celebrating acts of kindness, humour and the spirit of hope and resilience that is keeping the nation going during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. We want to do our bit to support this special event, which brings together for the first time the BBC’s biggest charitable partners, BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief, to help vulnerable people affected by the crisis.

Radio plays such an important role in our listeners’ daily lives, now more so than ever, and millions of people are having our stations on as their companions as they stay at home to help beat the coronavirus. So during the day, in the lead up to the evening event, we’ll be keeping them company across our stations with our Big Day In plans by featuring some extraordinary music performances, hearing from brilliant guests across our shows and helping to fundraise for the important cause.

Our five pop stations - BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network - will be sharing two special music moments.

At 9am, we’ll be dedicating The Great British Singalong to charity workers. We started these singalongs when the lockdown was introduced, and every Thursday our pop stations now join forces for a mass singalong designed to lift the nation’s spirits, providing a sense of community and much-needed escapism. They’ve become a regular fixture in our weekly rhythm, and in the spirit of the day, we’ll be dedicating this week’s singalong to all the charity workers across the UK in recognition of the important role they play. And from noon, listeners will be able to hear for the first time the Stay Home Live Lounge single, bringing together some of the music industry’s biggest stars to collaborate on a cover of Foo Fighters’ Times Like These to raise money for charities. The accompanying video will receive its world exclusive premiere during The Big Night In.

Over on Radio 3, listeners will be able to relax with a special slow moment in Essential Classics, escape with slow radio in a tribute to the landscape and past poets of the heart of Snowdonia, and enjoy a Home Session as part of In Tune with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his family, plus other special guests Joanna Lumley and Danielle de Niese. On Radio 2, Sara Cox will celebrate key workers throughout her show, Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 will reflect the plans for the day and night, and Radio 5 Live will be looking at what the world of football is doing to support the cause.

From 10pm, Rickie, Melvin & Charlie host the official Big Night In afterparty on Radio 1. Expect a show full of energy, interactivity and a lot of lols, as well as playing some of the greatest urban anthems from the last 20 years to keep everyone’s Big Night In going into the night.

And of course throughout the day, all our stations will be signposting towards the evening programme, we’ll air appeal packages featuring charities around the UK who are supported by both Comic Relief and Children in Need, and there’s more planned, including from our colleagues in Local Radio. Highlights from the day including the singalong and the Stay Home Live Lounge single will be available on BBC Sounds too for people to listen live or to listen to again.

I hope many of you will spend the day, and the night, with us tomorrow for this special occasion.

You can read more about The Big Night In here.