12/11/2015 BBC Children in Need

For the past 35 years,

BBC Children In Need has been making life better

for countless numbers of young people.

Here in Northern Ireland, we're just putting the final touches in place

-for this year's appeal. How's it going, girls? ALL:

-Great, Barra!

Last year, you helped us raise an incredible £49 million

with £723,333 donated here in Northern Ireland.

In this programme, we're going to show you how just some of that money

has transformed lives.

It's making a difference for people like Lauren and her mum.

Every day is a challenge for Lauren.

She has a lot to cope with on a day-to-day basis.

And I feel so lucky to have her in my life.

She's just amazing in every way.

It's opening up new worlds for children with multiple disabilities.

My daughter is Orla.

She's got Dravet syndrome, which is severe epilepsy.

To be honest, it's hard, because whenever Orla takes a seizure,

you don't know whether she's ever going to come out of it.

You don't know whether it's going to be her last.

And it's bringing fun to challenged communities

right across the country.

Hayley was always a person who was just into herself.

She is a liver transplant patient.

I kept Hayley wrapped up in a bubble for so long.

At the start of the summer scheme,

Hayley didn't want to go. Now, she doesn't want it to end.

She absolutely loves it. She's just Hayley now.

Just her bubbly, funny self.

Later on, I'll be meeting a few fundraising heroes,

but first, I'd like you to meet Lauren.

# When you love someone... #

Hi, my name is Lauren, I'm 15 years old,

and I go to school in Loreto College, Coleraine.

I live in Ballymoney with my mum and my dog, Rosie.

Are you ready? Go!

When Lauren was born, she was just amazing in every way.

She was such a blessing and she was very sociable,

very outgoing, had lots of friends.

This is my room.

As you can see, it's very pink,

and this is because I had it painted when I was six years old,

and I wanted to be a princess when I grew up.

This is my favourite teddy, Snoozie.

Who I've had since I was three years old,

and I just thought she was cute so I've slept with her every night.

-She actually lost her nose.

-SHE GIGGLES

In January of 2012,

when Lauren was 12,

Lauren had an ongoing headache which was excruciating,

which wasn't going away.

So, after her scan,

we were brought back to our local hospital,

and we were given the devastating news that Lauren had a brain tumour.

# You'll never know

# Just what you were... #

The first brain surgery was successful.

After her second surgery, unfortunately,

she developed every complication,

and she went into a coma

and we were just in despair at that stage.

Um, but it was the power of prayer that pulled her through.

# I will try to fix you... #

Every day is a challenge for Lauren.

She has a lot to cope with on a day-to-day basis

and I feel so lucky to have her in my life.

She's just amazing in every way.

# Tears stream

# Down your face... #

I wanted to show you this.

This was my proton mask

while I was having radiotherapy in Florida in America.

Here is what it does now.

It's my lampshade!

People think it's quite creepy, but it's quite relaxing

and it gets me to sleep quite easily. So...

Lauren, come on! It's time to get ready to go.

Sorry, I have to go get ready.

Hello!

Children In Need have helped us in every way.

We have been very lucky to have been offered therapy sessions

through Action Cancer.

Lauren is so relaxed after her therapy session.

She sleeps so well and so sound that night.

Lauren has been very isolated due to her illness,

and without Children In Need funding Action Cancer,

Lauren and myself would not be able to have this...

..cherished time that we have.

# I will try to fix you. #

Your money helps BBC Children In Need in Northern Ireland

give grants of...

..to projects working with young people affected by illness.

Thank you.

And you can help us keep supporting projects

like these by donating some money to BBC Children In Need right now.

You can choose to donate £5 or £10.

Now, this is Studio 8 in Broadcasting House.

It's the home of BBC Radio Ulster and through this window,

one of our fundraising heroes is hard at work.

We have got £650, but we need more. We need as much money as we can get.

And we keep it in here, and more money we need...

We need more money for a wee break around the Fermanagh direction.

So, get the money in, and while you're getting the money in,

I'm going to play a bit of music.

And give me a ring on 03030 80 55 55.

COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYS

You have been doing the auction now for almost ten years,

you must have raised quite a bit of money?

I'd say, over the last ten years, we have raised about...

I'd say, 350,000. And, you know, we've been very lucky to do that

because I started the auction just before the recession hit,

and the recession came in then,

and still, the people of Northern Ireland came out

in their hundreds and thousands to give their money, you know?

It was just fantastic to get it, and they never eased back.

Every year, we can hit around 30,000, and by the time we finish,

it goes up another 2,000-3,000.

It's just fantastic. They have great hearts in Northern Ireland.

And the people who give us the gifts to give away,

we've got cruises, we've got holidays in the sun,

we've got Belleek china,

holidays in different hotels around Northern Ireland.

So, Northern Ireland people are fantastic.

People have won a lot of great items.

What has been the most unusual?

I would have to say, I think,

when I saw a cement mixer there in front.

That just took the biscuit, and I didn't think it would go,

but it just flew! It just flew out!

And over the last couple of years now, last year and this year,

we've got a hot tub! People love the hot tub!

And we've got boxing shorts and all,

coming in here from the boxers

and we've got loads and loads of stuff.

And it's not just about the big items, the small items count, too,

because it's just about getting the money in.

Some children would ring in to us and they would say,

"Uncle Hugo, I have £10 or £20 that I have been saving in me jar.

"I'm going to send it in to you for Children In Need."

And, you know, it's just lovely.

And, if it couldn't move you, then you've no heart at all.

The cruise that's worth £2,500,

any chance I give you £200 right now, and you'll give me that?

Well, another 50 quid and you never know!

THEY LAUGH

-Why do you do it?

-Because I love doing what I'm doing.

I love people. I just love the fact

that we're doing what it says on the tin.

It's for Children In Need, and everything we get

goes to Children In Need, so we do what it says on the tin.

Finally, your message for people at home?

People at home, just keep on doing what you are doing.

Because, if you weren't doing what you're doing,

I couldn't do what I'm doing all week. So, thanks a million.

When times are hard and money is tight,

often it's those services which are considered as luxuries

that are the first to be affected.

A visit to the theatre can bring magic into all our lives,

but for some children and young people,

the theatre has to be brought to them.

# If it's all right with you

# We like to see you smile... #

Replay is the only theatre company in Northern Ireland

providing sensory performance

for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Replay are a touring company. We jump in the van,

we bring the van to schools,

community centres.

Kind of wherever the show needs to go.

And then, we build a bubble,

which takes scaff towers, ladders

and about an hour of half of heavy manual labour.

Within the bubble, there's lights and there's stars

and there's room for boats.

The children are physically moved in the boats into the bubble

and there's a completely different

spaceship environment created for them, and it is magical.

HE RINGS BELL

My daughter is Orla.

She's got Dravet syndrome, which is severe epilepsy.

To be honest, it's hard,

because whenever Orla takes a seizure,

you don't know whether she's ever going to come out of it.

You don't know whether it's going to be her last.

The children that I would teach in school have profound difficulties.

This may mean that they're life-limited,

and it definitely would mean that their quality of life

can be affected by the illnesses that they have.

Most of them would have severe forms of epilepsy,

they would have global developmental delay, they would have autism,

they might not be able to walk or talk.

Our current show is called Closer

and Closer is a really fantastical journey into space.

So, the children all join us in a spaceship

with six different aliens

and they travel through the galaxy

looking for the secret of the universe.

That kind of fantasy unlocks something magical for the kids.

-Hi, Commander.

-Hello!

'For kids with those kinds of disabilities,

'there's just something really important'

in igniting their imaginations

and in giving them those creative opportunities.

THEY WHOOP

THEY WHOOP

Boop! GIGGLING

Can you see anything?

'It's awful exciting.

'Do you know, they have music, they have lights,

'they have crackling sound effects.'

So, it is all pretty active.

Miriam enjoys the play group

because she enjoys noise,

music, she loves hearing people's voice.

# Kieran, Kieran, Kieran... #

'Towards the end of the show,

'just to enforce the fact that the children

'have been so important to the show,'

'we sing their names to them in a cappella.

'And it can be the most beautiful experience.'

The funding that we get from Children In Need

is absolutely vital to enable us to continue this work.

Without their funding,

we simply wouldn't be able to take these shows into schools.

We wouldn't be able to give the children these experiences.

And if any children deserve the opportunity

to have wonderful experiences,

it's these children that we work with.

This is therapy.

It's joy and it's magic,

all rolled into one.

And you can make it happen for other children, too.

Thanks to your support,

BBC Children In Need in Northern Ireland is able to give...

..to fund 62 projects

working with disabled young people in Northern Ireland.

Thank you.

Now, mention BBC Children In Need

and you mostly think about the night of the big television appeal.

But, of course, work goes on behind the scenes all year round.

Currently, the charity supports almost 200 projects

across Northern Ireland with grants totalling more than £8 million.

And I'm off to meet the woman at the helm.

What does Children In Need actually mean for people in Northern Ireland?

Well, all children deserve

to have a strong and good and supportive childhood.

They deserve to feel safe.

To have fun and to be able to have the skills they need

to choose the future that they want.

Unfortunately, not all children do have that good childhood.

Some people may be dealing with bullying, maybe bereavement,

maybe it's domestic violence or abuse, or they could just be living

with the effects of poverty and deprivation.

So, the projects that BBC Children In Need is able to support

helps those children to build on their strengths.

To have a good time, to feel safe,

and to be able to deal with whatever it is

that the issues are that they have challenging them.

But whatever it is, the projects that we fund

help them to have fun, to make friends, to try new things,

and hopefully, to reach their potential.

How much of a role does the public still play in fundraising?

A critical role, Barra. Absolutely critical.

Our charity is your charity. It's the BBC's charity.

It belongs to everybody.

BBC Children In Need has projects

in every county across Northern Ireland,

and indeed, throughout the UK.

We want to support your communities

and the children in your community.

So, when people raise money for us,

it comes back manyfold

into their own communities,

to help children to have that childhood that they all deserve.

And it's not too late to do something for tomorrow night.

Never too late, never too little, Barra.

Every penny that's raised goes directly to projects.

So whether it's your pocket money or whether it's a much bigger

amount of money that you raise, it really doesn't matter.

And it doesn't matter if you haven't planned it yet - plenty of time,

you can do it tomorrow or you can do it after the 13th.

You can give us money at any time

because we're working all year round to support projects right here

in Northern Ireland, so whatever you can raise, it'll help.

As Paddy said, why wait until the big show tomorrow?

You could give BBC Children In Need some money right now.

Mental ill health among young people is a serious

and growing problem in Northern Ireland.

More than a quarter of young people have experienced

a mental health concern,

with a tenth of 15- to 16-year-olds having actually self-harmed.

Last year, BBC Children In Need funding allowed the MACS project

to work with young people at risk.

I became homeless when I was 17.

My mental health was not in a good place at that time.

Anne's story needs to be heard.

Some of our young people have been through the care system,

many will have poor family relationships.

They may have very few support networks.

When I became homeless, the stress and anxiety of everything...

..was really difficult and my physical and mental health

and my emotional health all took a turn for the worse.

Then I just crashed.

I think people are still ashamed to come forward

and say they have a mental health problem.

It's really important that people are more upfront about it

and that we are talking more openly about it,

and trying to reduce the stigma that is around out there.

I was suicidal for months.

It took well over a year till I had the breakdown, last November.

MACS is a charity who are based in Northern Ireland.

Our tag line is it's for young people who don't have a fair deal,

so they could be homeless, they could be self-harming,

mental health problems,

and our job is to support those young people to get where

they want to be in life.

I was in hospital for seven weeks.

I was in two different mental health wards.

I always heard voices in my head and, you know, really scary stuff.

MACS contacted me as soon as I got out of hospital.

They met up with me and kind of, you know,

chatted about what was going on and what was going to happen now.

So they got me set up with housing support

and within two weeks I was moving in.

Last year we supported 780 young people.

We work across numerous different areas,

so Belfast has a head office but it also has a housing service.

We have an office and a house in Downpatrick and an office

and a house in Newry and an office in Lisburn,

and we're hoping to open a house there next year.

When I first moved into MACS housing,

I couldn't grab hold of the fact that someone actually cared for you

and wanted to support you, so that took a while to come round to.

They made a really, really big impact

on my life with setting me up,

you know, with simple things like doctors and, you know,

even outpatient appointments.

Just little things like that,

but mean such a big thing when you're in that place.

With the funding from Children In Need

we're able to see more young people.

It means they're not on a waiting list

and they're not waiting around, because their concerns

and their issues are so deep that they need an instant support.

The money that Children In Need has raised for MACS alone,

it's a huge thing.

I wouldn't be here today without them, and that's a big thing.

I wouldn't be alive.

Thanks to the money which you give,

BBC Children In Need is able to give grants of...

..to fund 43 projects working with marginalised young people

in Northern Ireland.

Now, Children In Need grants vary from a few hundred

to many thousands of pounds.

Often it doesn't take a lot of help to make a big difference,

as a community summer scheme in East Belfast has found out.

I have four children. I have one that has special needs.

She is a liver transplant patient.

Rhys has albinism and that incurs some visual impairment

and he has also now been diagnosed with autism.

His summer holidays, the whole routine is not there,

so then he gets confused and angry and frustrated.

And with the summer scheme being set out,

it just keeps him in that wee routine and he loves it.

Hayley was always a person who was just into herself.

I kept Hayley wrapped up in a bubble for so long.

At the start of the summer scheme Hayley didn't want to go,

at the end she doesn't want it to end.

She absolutely loves it.

And she's just Hayley now, just her bubbly, funny self.

Coming here and just coming down to pick him up when he's playing

with the other kids, it just melts my heart, to be honest.

But it has been amazing, just to see him mixing.

The differences I would see in children are their confidence,

their own self-awareness and the respect that they

have for each other and the help that they give to each other.

We offer seven family trips out.

These are trips that maybe otherwise these

families wouldn't be able to attend.

Either they don't have transport of their own or it's financially

not available for them.

I've made lots of friends and they're really nice friends,

and they don't be cheeky.

-It is amazing.

-It is.

-It gets the whole community together.

-Yeah.

And it just...

It's like a whole community spirit.

Today's all about having a fun day so parents and children

and people in the community can get together and have a real fun day.

Enjoy burgers, bouncy castles, popcorn, Slush Puppies

and candyfloss.

It's important to the community

because there's nowhere else unique as this place.

This place is open from early in the morning to the afternoon

in the summer, and there's nowhere else really for the kids to go.

If Children In Need didn't help us out

we wouldn't be able to do all this.

-ALL:

-Thank you!

Your generosity allows BBC Children In Need to support 37

holiday play scheme projects in Northern Ireland,

with grants of...

This is clearly the most important part of Broadcasting House.

Yes, it's my weather forecasting home.

And it's time to have a quick look at some of the fabulous

activities you'll be getting up to tomorrow night.

And once again, the fundraising forecast is looking great.

The staff of SuperValu in Ballymoney have just started

a trolley push from the store to Broadcasting House in Belfast.

Maybe I'll see you here tomorrow night.

And if you pass them on the road, give them a donation.

In County Down, the pupils at Saintfield High School

are having a talent contest.

To vote, pupils must make a donation

and the act with the most money is the winner.

Sounds like a great idea.

In Kilrea, Go Pro Kart Racing are holding a Children In Need open day

and they're waiving their usual fee

in return for a donation to Children In Need.

Brilliant.

Down in Kilkeel, make your way to Jim's Youth Centre

for a family fun day,

or pop in to the Sally Gardens Community Centre in Poleglass

for their fundraising coffee morning.

In Crumlin Leisure Centre, Antrim and Newtownabbey Council staff

are running a fundraising spin-a-thon from 6pm.

And finally, well done to the solid folk at the Northern Ireland Concrete Society

who hope to raise £3,000 for Children In Need

at their annual ball tomorrow night.

Now, there's a fundraising foundation to build on!

And we'll stay in Derry for our last look at another of the projects

you've helped make happen this year.

Strathfoyle, it's a housing estate based five miles

outside the city of Derry.

It's actually a rural community.

I mean, it's a very family-orientated community

but it is an area of high social need.

The Strathfoyle Women's Centre runs a wide

and varied range of programmes for women.

We have our on-site childcare creche facilities for children

and within that we run the drop-in/respite programme,

and it really is a lifeline for people.

When Sean was born, who's my second son, it was such a dark time.

It was...

You know, it should have been, "Oh, I have a new baby,"

it's, "I should love him unconditionally," and I didn't

get that, and I thought, "This baby doesn't like me."

I broke down in front of the health visitor and it was her that said,

"This is normal, and we can help you with this."

And then I was diagnosed with post-natal depression.

There's days, and the only way I can describe it,

it's like you're drowning.

So the doctor, you know, can put you on medication and things,

but the best thing to do is just to get out

and sort of get the break.

So my mum had actually started doing a computer course with

the Strathfoyle Women's Group, so she talked to me

and I went up and the baby got to go to the creche

and I got a couple of hours of being Lisa for a while.

The parents that are actually using the drop-in,

they are actually given a bit of time out from family stress, really.

The children are able to come to the creche

and while the children are here they're actually being

cared for, you know, and they absolutely love it.

I mean, Bella-Rose, at the start she was crying.

They had to pull her off me and then I was crying - I couldn't

settle, thinking, "Oh, my God, I'm just abandoning them here."

But now she's like, "Bye, Mummy," and they're helping her develop

her own wee social skills and her own wee personality

and it makes me feel better, knowing you sort of have that support.

Cos there is days where you don't want to get out of bed,

you don't want to do anything.

But you can't do that - you have to get up, you have to do it.

My mental health issues are going to be ongoing.

You know, it's not a quick-fix thing.

It's not something that you wake up one day and it's gone,

it's something you have to work at and you have to look after yourself.

And that for me is going out and socialising at the Women's Group.

I would be lost without it.

I wouldn't even like to think where I would be

if I hadn't been involved with the Women's Group.

I definitely wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now.

With your help, BBC Children In Need gives...

..to 27 family support projects in Northern Ireland.

And so, the stage is set for tomorrow night's TV extravaganza,

and it promises to be a great one.

Jo Scott and I will be here in Belfast keeping you across all that's

happening in Northern Ireland. Thank you all so much.

Without you, we simply wouldn't be able to give

so many people that extra little bit of help when they need it.

Let's make tomorrow an even better night

and help Children In Need change a lot more lives.

See you tomorrow at 7.30.