Nine Telethon raises $10.5m

The Nine Telethon in Queensland has raised $10,498,046 for the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The telecast was broadcast live from the Brisbane Entertainment and Convention Centre and relayed regionally via WIN Television.

Nine Network hosts Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Richard Wilkins, Sylvia Jeffreys, Tim Gilbert, David Campbell, Shelley Craft, Darren Palmer and Erin Molan worked alongside Nine News Queensland presenters Andrew Lofthouse, Melissa Downes and Garry Youngberry to encourage donations.

Channel Nine Queensland Managing Director, Kylie Blucher, said: “Tonight the generosity of Queenslanders has truly overwhelmed all of us. The money raised will change the lives of children across our State and provide comfort and support for those families who really need it.

“To the entire Channel Nine team, thank you for your tireless effort in making tonight happen. We will be back next year even bigger and better, and ready to smash tonight’s mammoth result.

The Live broadcast kick-started with major donations from the sponsors and telecast partners: Queensland State Government ($1 million), Bank of Queensland ($100,000), Woolworths ($3,445,924), Golden Casket ($1.1 million), The Coffee Club ($200,000), Treasury Casino and Hotel ($50,000) and Sunsuper.

More corporate donations came from Big W ($111,000), BMA ($200,000), Chain Reaction ($150,000), Steggles ($132,769) and AHL ($135,000).

Trades and services also came to the party, with the Queensland Firefighters Calendar giving $150,000, Kennards Hire donating $50,000, and the Australian Defence Force chipping in with $29,231 from money collected by troops at the Brisbane Festival’s Riverfire event.

In addition, the inaugural Collect in Your Street Appeal, with over 5,000 volunteers collecting money across Queensland, raised $101,102 over a two-week period.

There were 150 volunteers taking calls and donations for the telethon at The Sunsuper Contact Centre headquarters in Milton from 6.00am on Saturday, and when the telethon started at 7.00pm on Channel Nine the phones went into overdrive.

Funds raised from the telethon go towards the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the official charity of Children’s Health Queensland, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, the Centre for Children’s Health Research, and sick kids throughout Queensland. The Foundation will use the money to fund life-saving research and specialised medical equipment, and provide the highest level of care for sick kids and their families.