At a ceremony in Sheffield on Saturday during a day of dance organised by Harthill Morris, Pudsey Bear was presented with a cheque for £10,000 by Peter Halfpenney on behalf of the Joint Morris Organisations. The money had been collected by Morris dancing sides from all over the country during the past year.
Said Peter "Although Morris sides do much work for local charities, this is the first time that we have concerted our efforts into a national appeal. We are very proud of the amount raised and thanks go out to all our members who contributed. So keen have been our dancers to engage with the project, we have decided to repeat the effort this year."
Pudsey Bear was accompanied by actor and TV presenter, Matthew Kelly, for the handover. Matthew, who is appearing in Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The History Boys at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, told us: "It is an honour to accept this huge donation on behalf of BBC Children in Need. I know that the Morris have danced their socks off in all weathers to raise this money. Their hard work will help to improve the lives of so many children. It is a creditable achievement."