Generous people in Oxfordshire have been at the forefront in raising money for the BBC’s annual Children in Need appeal.

For many years, individuals and organisations have kept the due date in November free so that they can give their support.

Picture 1 shows the result of a typical event – a five-hour non-stop sponsored disco, organised by people with needs themselves.

READ MORE: Celebration for woman who cooked and served meals 

Mentally handicapped adults at the Brasenose Centre in Oxford stepped forward to raise more than £1,200 for the appeal in 1989.

Instructor Stephen Woodward is seen handing a cheque for £1,228.73 to Mary Small, co-ordinator of Children in Need for the Radio Oxford area, at the centre in Brasenose Driftway.

On Children in Need day, 73 clients, staff and guests, aged from 18 to 70, had danced from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

When their cheque was handed over, £254,000 had been raised in the Oxford area for the appeal – and Miss Small was confident that there was more money to come.

Oxford Girls Guides and Brownies did even better in 1990 when Miss Small, in the centre of Picture 2, accepted a cheque for £6,456 from them for the appeal. They organised a series of events to raise the money.

Handing over the cheque were, left to right, Clare Owen, Fiona Parsons, Lucy Hoult, Laura Clarke, Emma McKienan, Jane Matthews and Marianne Weaver.

READ MORE: Drivers face Botley interchange delays 

Miss Small was around on another occasion in 1990 to accept a cheque for £800 from staff at Oxford Airport at Kidlington.

She is seen in Picture 3, right, with Alison Marsh and David Brown, of CSE Aviation.

Oxford Mail:

Staff at the Oxford regional blood transfusion centre made sure they were noticed on Children in Need day, dressing as vampires.

In Picture 4, we see, left to right, Kirsty Hudson, John Davis, Julie Hamlet, Malcolm Woodward, Graham Howkins and Alison Bettle.

Workers at Culham Laboratory also managed to persuade fellow staff to hand over cash by dressing as characters from the legendary TV serial, Emergency Ward 10.

As the Oxford Mail reported, they “performed a remarkable operation and skilfully removed £400 from people all over the lab”.

Picture 5 shows, left to right, Jenny Varley, Christine Neale, Debbie Ford and Diane Wood, with Joy Codling as the patient.

Oxford firefighters are seen at their Rewley Road station in 1993 after handing over their cheque.

In front in Picture 6 are, left to right, firefighter Steve Brown, Sharon Doughty, of BBC South East, Suzanne Bunt, of Lloyds Bank, Victoria Hunt, and John Simpson, of BBC Radio Oxford, with firemen in the background..

Help support trusted local news 

Sign up for a digital subscription now: oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe 

As a digital subscriber you will get: 

  • Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website 
  • Advert-light access 
  • Reader rewards 
  • Full access to our app 

About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.