Text Santa raises over £5.2 million
Published on 15 February 2013 12:00 PM
Text Santa, ITV's annual charity fundraiser, raised over £5.2 million for charities, including Age UK, last December, exceeding the 2011 total by £1.1million.
The money will go to 6 specially chosen charities - Age UK, Anthony Nolan, Carers UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Together for Short Lives and Whizz-Kidz - who give life-changing help to vulnerable people throughout the UK.
Hosts Ant & Dec, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby and Christine Bleakley were joined by Paddy McGuinness for the live show, which was broadcast on 21 December 2012 and was watched by a peak audience of 6.2 million people.
Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television, commented: 'We are thrilled at the way ITV viewers have got behind Text Santa 2012, which has resulted in a fantastic amount being raised for our six charities. Every day these charities, and many others like them, do such incredibly important work with some of the most vulnerable in our communities.
'But ITV's aim isn't just about fundraising, we also want to help people understand how they can become involved with charity work and help in their local community. A huge thank you goes to everyone involved.'
Raising public awareness of some vital charity work
In addition to raising money, Text Santa also boosts public awareness of the vital work of the charities it supports. As a result, the charities not only benefit from the public's donations generated through the appeal, but also through an increase in volunteers, visitors to their shops and websites, and in many cases a longer term relationship that is formed with people in their community.
ITV does not make any profit from the appeal and, with investment from ITV and support from Text Santa's official partners Asda, Vodafone and Santander, 100% of donations made by viewers went directly to the charities Text Santa supports.
With Text Santa's donation Age UK is able to give people like Barbara the much-needed support of a befriender and the chance to attend regular social activities, bringing to an end to their days of uninterrupted isolation and loneliness:
Read Barbara's story
Thank you to everyone who made a difference in supporting the appeal.