Then the big night arrived! The dancers performed brilliantly, the guest stars were fantastic and everybody had a brilliant time. The event, now called GHOST is Dancing really seemed to capture the imagination of our Southampton audiences and our collections each day seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. We had an incredible time and our audience was amazing; the whole theatre felt like a massive party. Our fundraising total is now £37,022 - an amount that we never dreamt we could raise and in doing so we now have a really close touring company.”

Everyone in the cast of GHOST: The Musical deserves a massive thank you for their amazing efforts over the last few months, we hope you had an amazing time, and we wish we could have been there on the night; Pudsey has told us it was one of the best shows he’s ever seen – high praise indeed from a Bear who’s got a fair few shows under his belt!

All over the country spotlights have been shining and red curtains have been opening as performers gear up to entertain and enthrall for BBC Children in Need. Halloween audiences were treated to a very spooky show from Exit Theatre, a Croydon based non-profit theatre group formed in 2001. ‘Devilish Tales’ told three creepy stories, each written by three Croydon playwrights from the Exit Theatre crew. Audience needed to steel their nerves once the show began, as the Devil himself was hosting the evening! In spite of a few scares (or perhaps becuase of them), it seems like the show was a hit, and the best part of the evening? All profits from the show were donated to BBC Children in Need!

It’s showtime for the everyday fundraiser as well as the professional performer - especially for our fundraising heroes in schools up and down the country. We’ve heard that Dreghorn Primary School in North Ayrshire are having a pyjama day and talent show, and students at Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney have raised an amazing £3195.30 through a variety of fundraising activities including a big spectacular show featuring bush-tucker trials, singing teachers and head shaving. Fantastic work guys, you’ve done Pudsey proud!

If you're putting on a show for Pudsey, tell us all about it! We'd love you to get in touch and tell us about all your fundraising. Simply email your local address on this page, and tag us @BBCCiN on Twitter and Instagram or @Pudsey Bear on Facebook. Don't forget to use our official hashtags to help us spread the excitement - #bakeit, #pyjamas, #songanddance and, of course, #BeAHero.

If you still haven't decided what you'll be doing to fundraise this year, it's not too late to get involved! A great place to start is by downloading one of our 2013 fundraising packs. You'll be weaving some fundraising magic in no time at all!

 

Gary Barlow has excelled once again in bringing together some of the biggest names in the music industry to play at this year’s BBC Children in Need Rocks concerts!

 

The world class line-up set to perform at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith so far includes:

 

On Tuesday 12 November…

 

Robbie Williams

Dizzee Rascal

Little Mix

 

And on Wednesday 13 November

 

Ellie Goulding

Rizzle Kicks

Bastille

Passenger

 

Further names will also be confirmed in coming weeks and there will also be some surprise legendary artists appearing on the night! We can barely contain ourselves!

 

Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton will host both nights, which will be combined into one TV programme for broadcast on BBC One and BBC One HD. Chris says “I am honoured to be hosting the Rocks concerts alongside Fearne. Gary certainly knows how to put on a show, so I think guests and viewers will be in for a very special couple of evenings, a real treat!”

 

Gary Barlow added “I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart. This year, BBC Children in Need Rocks is going to be bigger and better than ever, doing not one, but two concerts. There are still some great acts we're keeping up our sleeve to announce in the coming weeks and there will be a couple of surprise moments on stage as well. And who knows, I might even get up on stage too.”

 

Tickets are on sale from 9am today and are priced £100, £75, and £50. 

 

For more details on Rocks including how to buy tickets, visit the Rocks event page. 

The Family Fun Day is in support of BBC Children in Need and the event will run from 10am to 6pm at Stormont Estate with the guarantee to give both children and parents a very enjoyable day out. There are a wide range of activities including live entertainment with a Lady Gaga tribute act, amusements, motorcycle displays and sports day activities. There will be numerous trampolines, bouncy castles and even an opportunity to enter your non-pedigree dog in our Scruffts heat. Maybe your dog could follow in the footsteps of crossbreed Becky from Bangor. Becky qualified at last year's Fun Day and went on to make history as the first ever Scruffts winner at Crufts.

The Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson is lending his support and is more than happy to help launch the Fun Day for the second year running.

Speaking about this year’s event this said: “I would encourage families to come along and check out what The Family Fun Day has to offer. Not only is there going to be a huge amount of fun and various activities to enjoy but it is also set in impressive surroundings in Stormont Estate.

“The Family Fun Day really does cater for all ages, there are bouncy castles, egg and spoon races, puppet shows and live entertainment from Hugo Duncan who will be broadcasting his show from the estate. The list of activities is endless and apart from the funfair type attractions, the vast majority of the event's attractions can be enjoyed free of charge so it really does provide a value for money day out.

“Last year's family fun day raised £22,000 and we will be doing all we can to maintain this level of support to a great cause in BBC Children in Need. I hope with your help we can make this year’s event even bigger and better and hope you all can come along and enjoy everything the Fun Day has to offer.”

Ronnie McAleese, the Event Director, who makes these fun days happen every year, had this to say: “I am delighted with the way in which this event has grown since the first one was held in 2008. It really is aimed at the whole family and with all the new attractions this year it should be bigger and better than ever.”

You can view the full programme of events taking place at the Family Fun Day by visiting the nidirect website.

(Picture taken by William Cherry (Press Eye))

In fact, the musical guests for the show are all amazing – PALOMA FAITH, THE SCRIPT, IL DIVO, LEONA LEWIS, SUSAN BOYLE and TIM MINCHIN will all be performing on the night. A lovely line up I think you'll agree!

It’s not just the music I’m looking forward to. I’ll once again be reunited with the LEGEND that is SIR TERRY WOGAN and the lovely TESS DALY. Working with Sir Wogan is a dream and an honour every year! Also my Radio 1 mate NICK GRIMSHAW will be joining us to help present the last few hours of the show too!

Being a part of the presenting team for BBC Children in Need is always a very special thing for me. It’s such an amazing cause, and does such important work right with disadvantaged children throughout the whole of the UK – kids and young people who need our help, and who are right on our doorsteps. I've just been on a visit to see one of the brilliant projects that receives a grant from BBC Children in Need, to find out exactly where the money that people give so generously ends up. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Lots of love,

Fearne

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We’re not just selling pawprint tattoos, we also have BBC Children in Need wristbands and Pudsey ears. They’re so popular with our customers we’ve had to order more.

I really look forward to being involved in BBC Children in Need. It’s such a lot of fun for us in branch and our customers always give generously. I’m really proud to be part of the Post Office effort to support Pudsey!

Dipti Patel

Hi everyone, and a very warm welcome to the brand new BBC Children in Need website! It's been quite a few years since the last time the website was revamped, so everyone here at Pudsey Towers in London thought it was high time we gave the site a fresh new look!

We really hope you like the new site. We've put a lot of work into trying to make everything in the new site a lot easier to find, with a much more simplified navigation and a lot more images to brighten the place up too.

We'll be adding to the site over the coming weeks to give you more fundraising inspiration, tools and downloads than ever before! For grant applicants, we hope you find the new section easier to navigate your way through the forms and advice to make applying for your grant easier.

There's also a few areas (such as our SHOP pages) that we'll be launching over the next few weeks as we find out more about the wonderful products that our Partner organisations will be creating for this year's Appeal.We're hoping that the site should be back to its fully-functioning (yet shiny and new!) best by the start of the Olympics, next Friday the 27th July.

And speaking of shiny and new - you're now reading our first Blog Post! This is the page to come to if you want to find out everything that's new in the world of BBC Children in Need. On these pages, we'll keep you updated with news about the wonderful Projects we're able to support thanks to your generous donations. We'll let you know about the exciting new fundraising events and activities that are planned for this year. And the best thing about it is that because this is a Blog, you can leave comments and messages for us and we'll do our best to answer them!

It's important that we let you know just how much your support is making a difference right on your doorstep, so please visit the "Who You Help" section of our Fundraising section to meet some of the children we've helped in YOUR region.

We hope you stick with us over this exciting summer and join us this Autumn for the greatest BBC Children in Need fundraising campaign ever!