Give them a big hand

As tonight is Children in Need, I thought I'd put together a collection of a few of my fave whacky stunts that the Great British Public are pulling this year, all in the name of raising a few pennies for Auntie Beeb and Pudsey the bear.

I don't mean the stuff that gets all the big press - brilliant as that always is - but the local heroes who are actually getting off their a***s and do some crazy stuff, all in the name of a great cause.

First, let's give a big hand to Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Keele University Conservative Future. Last year the right-leaning funsters put their heads together and dyed their hair blue (the traditional colour associated with Britain's Conservative Party).

This year, chairman Owen Meredith will be going one step further and having his leg hair shaved off on the big day. "Although I am somewhat concerned about losing my leg hair," the twenty year old marketing and politics student admitted, "my worries are nothing compared to what thousands of children and their carers face every day."

But the fundraising frivolities aren't restricted to the potty Potteries. Workers at ACT Training in Cardiff have been holding lizards all week - all in the name of raising some much needed cash. The creepy crawlies have been leant by the big-hearted crew at Fangtastic in Caerphilly.

And the list of unknowns pulling off crazy stunts in the name of a good cause doesn't end there. Mulleted upsetter and 'comic' novelist Bruce Dickinson will be flying members of the public in his personal jet for money. Did you know he has a pilot's licence? We can presume he does.

Terry Wogan will be kicking off coverage of this year's event at 7pm (GMT) on BBC1, with human avatar Natasha Kaplinsky and Fearne Cotton, Jo Whiley's little sister. Nothing has leaked about what they will be getting up to, but Wogan has promised "no-holds barred fundraising". So get your credit cards ready - my money's on Kaplinsky with an eye-gouge.


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Bruce Dickinson
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