Oh how I’ve missed seeing that cuddly yellow bear. Yes it’s that time again, the biggest charity event of the year, Children In Need!
A day dedicated to marking all the hard work and dedication of people around the UK who are helping our underprivileged and disabled young people, whilst raising millions of pounds to support the cause. It’s a major event in the UK and I’ll be very surprised if you can honestly say you’ve never heard of it before. Thousands of people up and down the country got involved this year and the students of Leeds were certainly no exception!
Alongside the major telethon that spans a whole evening’s television viewing on the BBC, LSTV – the Leeds Student Union’s TV station – held their own whopping, seven hour broadcast live in the union. Yes you did read that right… Seven whole hours! Now that is pretty good going if you ask me. On Friday 16th November 2012, starting at 10am and finishing at 5pm, LSTV were broadcasting from the Leeds University Union foyer featuring a range of live acts every hour and an array of charity fundraising stalls.
You may be thinking how could a bunch of students actually create a TV show with enough content to fill seven hours? Well LSTV did an incredible job to say the least and all those who got involved have more than enough to be proud of, including raising a lot of money for the cause. How much exactly? Online donations alone raised just under £1734! That’s not including all the bucket collections from the kind students of Leeds too.
All this could not have been achieved without a lot of time and commitment on the LSTV members’ behalf. Weeks of planning content, dividing up producing roles and a lot of technical goings-on saw an almighty struggle to try and ensure the day ran smoothly. The broadcast was divided into seven different hours, each with its own production team. The teams put together an hour of entertainment each for our viewing pleasure with a mix of pre-recorded and live programming, which can only be described as unmissable. From the live Take Me Out remake, to cheerleading performances, to several inspiring pieces from some immensely talented musical artists; LSTV certainly showed how a live broadcast is done and gave the BBC a run for its money.
Some highlights not to have been missed included the hilarious Zumba video from Conotda Ance; a truly inspirational dance teacher who could help even the most two-left-footed of dancers perfect their moves by the looks of the broadcast! Don’t believe me? Then you’ve got to give it a watch yourself. There was also the gut-wrenching trial on ‘I’m in LSTV’, where two of the LSTV committee members, Elliot Binks and Roz Gillman, bravely took on an eating task to try and earn a three course meal for their camps. And we can’t forget the fantastic “Stars in Their Eyes” performances. Who knew there were so many talented students in Leeds?
Alongside all the shows, LSTV had their members’ out and about bucket-collecting and selling cakes for your guilty pleasure with the aim of raising as much cash as possible. LSTV even created their very own charity singles. Not one, not two but three charity singles to be precise. We had “Some Nights” – a remake of the F.U.N single produced by Jessica Duncan, the 4 Chord Song, and the official LSTV single of 2012 – “We Won’t Let You Down” (with a helping hand from the Leeds’ College of Music, and the time and effort of some highly talented students). All were undeniably entertaining and dare I say it, better than the official Girls Aloud single released this year. But I’ll leave you to make your own judgment on that one.
That’s just a snapshot of the day’s events but if you missed it, all is not lost. You can still catch much of the outstanding content on YouTube via the LSTVvideos page. If you haven’t seen any of the broadcast or if you just want to relive one of the many brilliant moments, then this is a must visit.
The link to the LSTV Youtube page is: http://www.youtube.com/user/LSTVvideos
Also if you still wish to donate to Children In Need you can do via LSTV’s own Just Giving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/LSTV2012
Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and 100% secure. Your details are safe and they’ll never be sold on or result in unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate and raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity!
Plus, who can resist giving some money to such a worthy cause when Pudsey’s around? So I urge you to dig deep and spare anything you can. You’ll be supporting an incredible cause and can be rest assured you’ve done your bit to help at least some of the thousands of children in need out there.