BBC charity appeals raise £107 million (and counting) in 2014

This year, BBC Children in Need has been able to spread some festive cheer to children and young people who are facing challenges. Thanks to a grant awarded to Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK, audiences have helped to fund Christmas parties for children affected by this rare disease.

Helping children with the condition at this special time of year, enabling them to socialise and make friends, is just one of the ways the BBC has been able to change people’s lives in 2014 – and it’s all thanks to the viewers who donate so generously.

New figures show that BBC audiences have given a whopping £107m to all of our charity appeals this year - and more money keeps coming in. This includes record ‘on the night’ donations for our major charity broadcasts Children In Need and Sport Relief.

The BBC has a long and proud history of supporting charities. In fact, the first BBC appeal was for the Winter Distress League, a charity representing homeless veterans of the First World War. Back in 1923 this appeal - the idea of Lord Reith the first Director General - raised £26 6s 6d.

In 2014 people have continued to dig deep to support our charities – as well as donating generously to two Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) appeals for Gaza and Ebola, which the BBC has aired with other broadcasters. It’s heartening that while people have given more than ever on the night of broadcast for BBC appeals, they’ve also generously supported these relief efforts.

In March, Sport Relief came from the Olympic Park in East London and raised a record £71.8m for causes around the world and here in the UK. This money is helping children like Raymond from Ghana - who has to crawl through dark tunnels while working in a gold mine – to go to school. During the festive season I’m pleased to know that BBC audiences are helping children like Raymond get an education - something that we so often take for granted in the UK.

In November, BBC Children in Need also raised a record breaking on the night total of £32.6m. Lots of the money raised for our major appeals comes from the activity around them - such as the rickshaw challenge on the One Show - and all the sponsored activity you take part in. We never cease to be amazed by the creativity, love and hard work that goes in to this at schools, colleges and workplaces across the UK.

And let’s not forget our local radio appeals which many of you donate to as well, raising a total of £660,000. They’ve made a real difference to communities up and down the country.

In October BBC Radio Suffolk closed the books on their year-long appeal with Suffolk Family Carers with listeners helping to buy a mobile family carers vehicle and pay the running costs for two years.

BBC Radio York raised a staggering £240,000 to buy a ‘Good Night’s Sleep’ for North Yorkshire families caring for children with life limiting illnesses – doubling the original target.

BBC Radio Cumbria is in a partnership with Jigsaw, Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice until the end of January, raising £110,000 two months ahead of schedule. This extra money will go to funding respite care visits.

BBC Radio Cambridge has helped towards the redevelopment of Thorpe Hall, a Sue Ryder Hospice. Meanwhile in December, BBC Radio Cornwall distributed over £50,000 to 20 local charities in small grants from its charity fund.

But it doesn’t end there. We’ve been able to help another 32 people with a share of £320,000 from our fund to support, promote and encourage the performing arts across the UK. From choreographers, producers and writers, to a circus performer, a poet and a lighting designer, the recipients of this year’s grants from the BBC Performing Arts Fund are as diverse as the places they come from with two-thirds working outside London. The money is raised from voting lines on BBC One entertainment programme like The Voice.

Then there’s the monthly BBC One Lifeline Appeal and the weekly Radio 4 Appeal which have supported the work of 60 smaller charities and has enlisted the support of presenters including Jack Osbourne and Michael Palin. And just this month the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal with St Martin-in-the-Fields, now in its 88th year, raised £1m in its first week.

The money raised for that first BBC charity appeal in 1923 was about £1,025 in today’s money. The £107 million we have received so far this year shows we’ve come a long way since then - and it’s all thanks to the enduring support of you, the BBC audience.

Sally Flatman is BBC Charity Appeals Adviser.

• For more information on how to apply for an appeal visit the BBC Charity Appeals website.
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