All corners of Hartlepool community join in Children in Need fun

Staff at one of Hartlepool’s leading businesses got into the spirit for the annual charity event as workers at Utility Alliance donated cash for their weekly dress down Friday ritual, with many opting to wear onesies for the day.

There were various other bucket collection throughout the day, while a cake sale and a Guess The Name of the Teddy also helped to raise extra cash.

But the highlight for the marina-based energy consultancy came at lunchtime, where four brave support staff workers volunteered to carry out their own version of a Bushtucker Trial ahead of the new series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! starting on Sunday.

David Abernathy, Tiernan Sutherland, Jason Appleton and Liam Potts all enjoyed a taste of crickets and mealworms, with their colleagues all chipping in to watch them get put through the ordeal.

Grace Jones, PR and marketing assistant at Utility Alliance, said: “It was a really fun day, and we are grateful to all of the staff for getting involved.

“The lads who did the Bushtucker Trial deserve extra praise for their efforts, and while we are still collecting cash in we expect to have raised in excess of £300 for Children in Need.”

Meanwhile, all staff at Fieldview Care Home in Blackhall dressed in Pudsey spots, had home baked cakes and biscuits and all joined in with a Children in Need Duck Race.

They raised £70 for Children in Need, and all residents have had a fun filled day.

Staff at Boots in Middleton Grange raised money from raffles and collections, and wore Children in Need t-shirts.

And children at across Hartlepool threw themselves into the day by wearing Pudsey-decorated clothes and taking part in cake sales.

Mail reader Amy Metcalfe shared pictures of children Aiden Moore, six, three-year-old Ivy Gordon and Fallon Moore, aged four, all looking adorable in their special Children in Need outfits.

And so did Steve Young of Cara Dent aged five and Cobie Dent, eight, for fundraising at school.