Gold Telethon raises $6m

Nine’s eighth annual Gold Telethon for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation yesterday, raised $6,002,228 -and increase on 2016’s $5.58m.

Hugh Marks, CEO of Nine, said: “Everyone here at Nine is so overwhelmed by the generosity New South Wales showed yesterday. Whether it was $5 or $50,000, each dollar will go towards helping children in our community who need it the most.”

Hosted jointly by Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Richard Wilkins, Sylvia Jeffreys, Natalia Cooper, David Campbell, Julia Morris, Deborah Knight, Erin Molan, Cameron Williams and Peter Overton the event also saw Kelly Rowland and Boy George lend their support.

Nicola Stokes, CEO of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, said: “We are absolutely honoured to have raised over $6 million through this year’s Gold Telethon, and donations are still coming in. Thanks to our supporters, we can help the increasing number of sick and injured children who need our hospital through state of the art lifesaving equipment and groundbreaking research so that kids have a shorter stay in hospital and get to go home sooner – where they belong.”

Stars taking a frenzy of donation calls included Chopper’s Michael Caton, The NRL Footy Show’s Beau Ryan, Love Child’s Andy Ryan, Sophie Hensser Bloom, Danielle Catanzariti, Darcie Irwin-Simpson, Sophia Forrest and Dan Hamill, Here Come the Habibs’ Michael Denkah, Rob Shehadie, Sam Alhaje, Georgia Flood, Kat Hoyos and Tyler De Nawi, Doctor Doctor’s Rodger Corser, Hayley McElhinney, Ryan Johnson, Belinda Bromilow, Charles Wu and Brittany Clark, as well Australian Ninja Warrior’s Ben Fordham. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, players from the NSW Swifts, Penrith Panthers NRL stars and many more also took calls.

The massive entertainment lineup for the day included Aussie rock band Sheppard, singer and actress Casey Donovan, The Voice 2017’s Sally Skelton, Sony artists Jess and Matt, and Eurovision’s Isiah. Comedians Akmal Saleh and Tahir, and little surfing legend and Today favourite Sabre Norris also dropped by.