Children in Need breaks record with £50.6m raised in one night

Children in Need has broken its own record after raising more than £50m during its appeal show, bringing the total funds collected since the annual telethon began to more than £1bn.

Viewers donated almost £34m in the first two-and-a-half hours of Friday evening’s broadcast, which the BBC says was the most viewed show of the night.

Overnight ratings suggest an average of 6.2 million people tuned in at any one time, instead of watching competing offerings of Gogglebox on Channel 4 and two episodes of Coronation Street on ITV.

At one point, 7.1 million people were watching Children in Need, which featured a reunion of 1990s pop group Boyzone for their own version of Strictly Come Dancing, and the EastEnders cast dressing up as characters from Aladdin to perform a Disney song medley in Albert Square.

The five-hour programme also featured Doctor Who actor Jodie Whittaker surprising a young fan, and jazz musician Jamie Cullum performing a new single written especially for the charity. The fundraising continued during the 10pm news break on BBC One, as actor Stephen Mangan hosted a mix of celebrity and junior Mastermind on BBC Two.

Donations had reached £50.6m by the end of the broadcast, beating last year’s previous on-the-night record of £50.1m and bringing the total raised since 1980 to more than £1bn. Children in Need is funding 2,400 projects supporting children dealing with poverty, abuse and disability, among other issues.

The programme was presented by Ade Adepitan and Tess Daly, followed by Mel Giedroyc and Graham Norton.

BBC Radio 2 listeners raised more than £9m during an all-day Children in Need takeover of the station on Friday.

Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, said: “I want to offer my congratulations to everyone associated with Children in Need – to those who took part and to everyone who contributed. An incredible amount of money has been raised yet again – it will make a huge difference to the lives of many children and young people. Thank you.”