Since 2011 one of the recurring acts on the BBC telethon Children in Need has been a choir where usually over 1000 children come together in the studio and in around 8–10 locations across the UK and sing one song live in unison from the various locations. These choirs are created by the BBC local news regions using local schools and theatre groups and they usually sing from where the regional outside broadcast takes place.
The performance usually starts in the studio and cuts between to the different locations throughout the performance before ending in the studio (2022 and 2023 do not start in the studio) with a short 20–30 second instrumental break to show a montage of clips from the night's appeal films. However, since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic the choir there have been fewer singers and the choirs across the UK have been pre-recorded with only the studio choir singing live.
Earlier link-ups The idea for nationwide link ups on Children in Need has been around since the early 1990s and started in the form of a jazz band performing from the regional events. However, in 1996, the link-ups started to move towards the current format when 500 children in 13 locations led by Gary Wilmot and a further 100 children in the studio performed the 1989 Children in Need single "If You Want To Help". This eventually grew to become the Children in Need choir that has been shown since 2011.
1996 In 1996 Gary Wilmot led 100 children in the studio and a further 500 across the UK performed "If You Want To Help" in unison.lots of the venues 1996-2000 come from emails from BBC Archivists They performed from: London – BBC Television Centre Glasgow – The Broadcasting House – BBC Scotland Birmingham – BBC Pebble Mill – BBC West Midlands Chatham – Chatham Historic Dockyard – BBC London and The South East Manchester – The Arndale Centre – BBC North West Bournemouth – Bournemouth International Centre – BBC South (Labelled on screen as Southampton) Sheffield – Ponds Forge Leisure Centre - BBC North (Labelled on screen as Leeds) Newquay – The Towan Beach – BBC South West (Labelled on screen as Plymouth) Norwich – BBC St Catherine's Close – BBC East Gateshead – The MetroCentre – BBC North East and Cumbria (Labelled on screen as Newcastle) Bristol – Broadcasting House BBC West Leicester – The Grand Hotel - BBC East Midlands (Labelled on screen as Nottingham) Cardiff – The Broadcasting House – BBC Wales Belfast – BBC Blackstaff House – BBC Northern Ireland
1997 In 1997 Children in Need attempted to break the world record for the most people simultaneously line dancing which previously had stood at 1788. 5500 people from all the regions danced in unison to "5, 6, 7, 8" led by Steps themselves in the studio. London – BBC Television Centre Preston – Preston Guild Hall – BBC North West Gateshead – The MetroCentre – BBC North East and Cumbria Hull – BBC North Ayr – Ayr Town Hall – BBC Scotland Cardiff – The Broadcasting House – BBC Wales Carrickfergus – Carrickfergus Castle – BBC Northern Ireland Tonbridge – West Kent College – BBC London and The South East Cambridge – The Wimpole Estate – BBC East Birmingham – BBC Pebble Mill – BBC West Midlands Bournemouth – Bournemouth International Centre – BBC South Torquay – The Riviera Centre – BBC South West Swindon – The North Star BT House – BBC West Nottingham – BBC East Midlands
1998 In 1998 Children in Need paid tribute to Frank Sinatra after his death earlier that year. Music groups, choirs and singers performed "My Way" in unison from across the regions. They were led by Michael Ball in Belfast and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in London London – BBC Television Centre Belfast – BBC Blackstaff House – BBC Northern Ireland Glasgow – The Broadcasting House – BBC Scotland Cardiff – The Broadcasting House – BBC Wales Basingstoke – Basingstoke Ice Rink – BBC South Birmingham – BBC Pebble Mill – BBC West Midlands Scarborough – The Corner Complex – BBC North Bristol – BBC West Sunderland – National Glass Centre – BBC North East and Cumbria (Labelled as County Durham as the group performing were Tudhoe Grange School from Spennymoor in County Durham) Thurrock – Lakeside Shopping Centre – BBC London and The South East Great Yarmouth – The Marina Centre – BBC East Manchester – The New Broadcasting House – BBC North West Tavistock – Tavistock Wharf – BBC South West Nottingham – BBC East Midlands
2000 In 2000 Children in Need performed a medley of Abba songs led by Martine McCutcheon in the studio. Acts ranging from school choirs to, local bands to Atomic Kitten performed snippets from the songs one after another to a live accompaniment from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales who were in the studio. London – BBC Television Centre – Martine McCutcheon and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Manchester – The New Broadcasting House – BBC North West – The Rosebuds Birmingham – BBC Pebble Mill – BBC West Midlands – Bromsgrove Operatic Society Reading – Reading Concert Hall – BBC South – RASPO Leeds – West Yorkshire Playhouse – BBC North – SAAZ Glasgow – The Broadcasting House – BBC Scotland – Atomic Kitten Bristol – Broadcasting House - BBC West – Joey and The Lips Belfast – BBC Blackstaff House – BBC Northern Ireland – The Celtic Tenors Cornwall – The Eden Project – BBC South West – St Stythian's Male Voice Choir London – Old Spitalfields Market – BBC London and The South East – DAMAGE North Yorkshire – Richmond Castle – BBC North East and Cumbria – Richmond School Choir Norwich – BBC St Catherine's Close – BBC East – FABBA Swansea – BBC Wales – ABBA Gold and The Jacks Nottingham – National Ice Centre – BBC East Midlands – The Nottingham Schools Choir
2001 In 2001 S Club 7 performed the Children in Need Single "Have You Ever" accompanied by 3616 schools across the UK who sent in tapes of the chorus. Six live school choirs sang along representing them from the six regional concerts.
These were: Hamble School singing from the concert at Castle Field in Portsmouth – BBC South Longcroft School singing from the concert at the Dome Leisure Centre in Doncaster – BBC North Gwauncelyn Junior School sining from the concert at the Broadcasting House in Cardiff – BBC Wales Auchenback Primary School singing from the concert at the Broadcasting House in Glasgow – BBC Scotland The King John School singing from the concert at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester – BBC East Midlands Forge Integrated Primary School singing from the concert outside BBC Blackstaff House in Belfast – BBC Northern Ireland the link up on the night never went to their performance.
S Club 8 performed in the studio in their first televised performance.
2007 Lee Mead performed "Any Dream Will Do" with choirs in eight locations across the UK live. London – BBC Television Centre BBC North West – Blackpool at The North Pier BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire – Lincoln at City Square BBC South – Basingstoke at the Milestones Museum BBC Northern Ireland – Belfast at The Stormont Estate BBC West Midlands – Birmingham at the Centenary Square BBC Scotland – Glasgow at BBC Pacific Quay BBC Wales – Cardiff at Broadcasting House with the choir in the link up on the set of Pobol y Cwm
Children in Need Choirs 2011 In 2011, the Children in Need Choir started by Gareth Malone featured the contestants on The Big Performance Series 2. They sang "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. The choirs sang at:
London at BBC Television Centre in the BBC London region Glasgow at BBC Pacific QuayBBC Scotland, Reporting Scotland, 18 November 2011 for BBC Scotland Kent at BluewaterBBC South East, South East Today, 18 November 2011 for BBC South East Weston-super-Mare at Grand PierBBC West, Points West, 18 November 2011 for BBC West Salford at MediaCityUKBBC North West, North West Tonight, 18 November 2011 for BBC North West Cornwall at Eden ProjectBBC South West, Spotlight, 18 November 2011 for BBC South West Cardiff at Royal Welsh College of Music & DramaBBC Cymru Wales, Wales Today, 18 November 2011 for BBC Wales Pudsey in the Leisure Centre car parkBBC Yorkshire, Look North, 18 November 2011 for BBC Yorkshire Birmingham at Aston HallBBC West Midlands, Midlands Today, 18 November 2011 for BBC West Midlands Belfast at W5 museumSignage for location seen in background of BBC Northern Ireland programme Children in Need in Northern Ireland 2011, broadcast 19 November 2011 for BBC Northern Ireland Hull at Hull Truck TheatreBBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Look North, 18 November 2011 for BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Hampshire at The National Motor MuseumBBC South, South Today, 18 November 2011 for BBC South Colchester at Charter HallBBC East, Look East, 18 November 2011 for BBC East County Durham at Beamish Museum, County DurhamBBC North East & Cumbria, Look North, 18 November 2011 for BBC North East and Cumbria Loughborough at Loughborough UniversityBBC East Midlands, East Midlands Today, 18 November 2011 for BBC East Midlands
Hull, Hampshire, Colchester, County Durham and Loughborough weren't included in the nationwide link up performance and were instead included in the highlights programme.
2012 In 2012, the choir was led by Aled Jones and featured over 2000 singers in 15 locations. They sang "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel.
The choirs were singing at: London at BBC Television Centre in the BBC London region Aberdeen at The Beach Ballroom for BBC Scotland Northumberland at The Alnwick Garden for BBC North East and Cumbria Swindon at STEAM: Museum of the Great Western Railway for BBC West Birmingham at The Mailbox for BBC West Midlands Belfast at Broadcasting HouseBBC Newsline 16 November 2012. for BBC Northern Ireland East Sussex at Glyndebourne for BBC South East Cardiff at BBC Hoddinott HallBBC Wales Today 16 November 2012. for BBC Wales Scunthorpe at Baths Hall for BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Winchester at INTECH for BBC South Cambridge at West Road Concert Hall, University of Cambridge for BBC East Exeter at The Forum, University of Exeter for BBC South West Leicestershire at Conkers Discovery Centre, National Forest for BBC East Midlands Rotherham at Magna Science Adventure Centre for BBC Yorkshire Salford at MediaCityUK for BBC North West
Cambridge, Exeter, Leicestershire, Rotherham and Salford weren't included in the nationwide link up performance and were instead included in the highlights programme.
2013 In 2013, the main studio moved to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood just outside of London, the performance featured only 10 choirs and 1624 children, instead of all of the events having choirs and some not being included it was decided those regions would just not have choirs and this idea had continued.
The choirs sang "Sing" from Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert at: Elstree at Elstree Studios in the BBC London region Bath at The Roman Baths for BBC West Belfast at BBC Blackstaff HouseBBC Newsline, 15 November 2013 for BBC Northern Ireland Manchester at Z-ArtsNorth West Tonight, 15 November 2013 for BBC North West Falmouth at National Maritime Museum Cornwall for BBC South West Glasgow at BBC Pacific QuayReporting Scotland, 15 November 2013 for BBC Scotland Birmingham at The Library of Birmingham for BBC West Midlands Kettering at Wicksteed Park for BBC East Merthyr Tydfil at The college for BBC Wales Hexham at Hexham Trinity Methodist Church for BBC North East and Cumbria
2014 In 2014,https://bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02bxhs1 The full choir performance taken from the main telethon the choir had a similar format to 2013 with 10 locations and 1685 and they sang "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders.
The choirs sang from: Elstree at Elstree Studios in the BBC London region Bradford at Bradford College for BBC Yorkshire Norwich at The Millennium Library at The Forumhttps://bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02bxhs1 Sign behind choir at 1:06 for BBC East Newport at The Newport Centre for BBC Wales Birmingham at Thinktank for BBC West Midlands