Children in Need: Hastings, Bexhill and Rye and Battle area children take part in fund raising fir the national charity event

School children from across the Hastings and Rother area have been dressing up to raise funds for this year's BBC Children in Need appeal.
Pupils from St mary Magdelene School in Bexhill SUS-181116-113630001Pupils from St mary Magdelene School in Bexhill SUS-181116-113630001
Pupils from St mary Magdelene School in Bexhill SUS-181116-113630001

The theme for this year’s fund raiser is Do Your Own Thing and help change lives.

Money raised from the Children in Need appeal helps provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged.

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SEE ALSO: Hastings Herring Fair - everything you need to knowThey are currently supporting 2,400 projects across the UK. The projects we fund help children facing a range of disadvantages for example poverty and deprivation; children who have been the victims of abuse or neglect or disabled young people.

Silverdale Primary Pupils proudly wear their Pudset dresses SUS-181116-114525001Silverdale Primary Pupils proudly wear their Pudset dresses SUS-181116-114525001
Silverdale Primary Pupils proudly wear their Pudset dresses SUS-181116-114525001

Grant programmes are open all year round for applications. The charity gives small grants awards four times a year and main grants three times a year.

The roots of Children in Need go way back to 1927. The BBC’s first ever broadcast appeal for children was a five-minute radio broadcast on Christmas Day in 1927. The response was phenomenal and it raised £1,143 18s 3d which was split between 4 prominent children’s charities.

The first televised appeal was the 1955 ‘Children’s Hour Christmas Appeal’, presented by Sooty and Harry Corbett. The Christmas Day Appeals continued on TV and radio right up until 1979, raising a total of £625,836.

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In 1980 the appeal was broadcast on BBC One in a new telethon format, hosted by Terry with Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen. The telethon was the brainchild of Mark Patterson, who went on to be the Executive Producer for nine years. It captured the public’s imagination to such an extent that the donations increased dramatically and broke the million mark for the very first time.

Netherfield Primary School pupils Kaitlyn, Charlie and Harry . SUS-181116-113853001Netherfield Primary School pupils Kaitlyn, Charlie and Harry . SUS-181116-113853001
Netherfield Primary School pupils Kaitlyn, Charlie and Harry . SUS-181116-113853001

Terry Wogan remained the telethon’s mainstay until 2014, and was joined by a diverse line-up over the years that included Joanna Lumley, Sue Cook, John Craven, Andi Peters, Gaby Roslin, Natasha Kaplinsky, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton.

Pudsey Bear made his television debut in 1985 when Terry introduced the new, brown cuddly mascot to the audience.

He was designed by Joanna Ball, a BBC graphics designer, who named him after the West Yorkshire town where she was born. He proved very popular and returned as BBC Children in Need’s official logo the following year with his design amended to that of a yellow bear with a red spotted bandage.