Text Santa

Text Santa
The current Text Santa logo
Format	Entertainment Charity
Presented by	Phillip Schofield Christine Bleakley Ant & Dec Holly Willoughby Paddy McGuinness (2012–)
Opening theme	"My Favourite Time of Year" by The Florin Street Band
Composer(s)	Leigh Haggerwood
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	8 (inc. preview and highlight shows)
Production
Location(s)	The London Studios
Running time	65, 150 minutes (2011) 180 minutes (2012) 185 minutes (2013)
Production company(s)	ITV Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV, STV, UTV
Picture format	16:9: 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	11 December 2011 (2011-12-11) – present
Chronology
Related shows	From the Heart This Morning
External links
Website

Text Santa is a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK charities during the Christmas period.^[1] The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise.^[2][3] The telethon is hosted by popular ITV presenting duos, these are: Ant & Dec, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby & Paddy McGuinness and Christine Bleakley. Each presenting duo hosts a segment of the show.^[4][5]

The Text Santa appeal currently supports six UK based charities; these are Barnardo's, BeatBullying, Age UK, British Heart Foundation, CLIC Sargent and Help the Hospices.

Presenters

Charities

All of the money raised gets split between the charities supported by the appeal, these are:

Fundraising

Totals

In 2011, totals were announced a few days after the show has been broadcast. It was announced by Holly Willoughby live on This Morning, but since the 2012 telethon, the totals are announced during the main show.

Merchandise

Merchandise including santa hats and greetings cards have been available to buy from the Text Santa website with all profits going to the charities.

Music

The Text Santa theme music was created by British composer Leigh Haggerwood of The Florin Street Band, who re-worked his Christmas song "My Favourite Time of Year" especially for the appeal, creating theme and background music along with various other original compositions. The song - with its sweeping string melodies and critically acclaimed Victorian-themed music video - has gained worldwide popularity and was recently performed by the United States Army Band in Washington D.C. Leigh Haggerwood is proud of the songs association with the Text Santa campaign and has pledged to support it each year.

Official singles

2011 appeal

The 2011 appeal, aired in two parts. The launch show aired on 11 December 2011 and was hosted by Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley. The main show aired on Christmas Eve (24 December 2011) with Ant & Dec and Holly Willoughby as presenters.

On 27 November 2011, at The Kia Oval Cricket Ground, thousands of people attempted a Guinness World Record for the largest Santa gathering. Stephen Mulhern and Diversity entertained the participants. However not enough people turned out for the record attempt of 13,200 Santas.

2012 appeal

The 2012 telethon aired live on 21 December 2012. The first hour of the telethon was hosted by Ant & Dec, the second by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and the third by Christine Bleakley and Paddy McGuinness, all from The London Studios.

Within other shows

• A special edition of The Jeremy Kyle Show aired at 09:25 featuring people with many disabilities and talked about how the Text Santa charities helped them and their families get through their difficulties. Kyle treated these people with special trips and featured a guest appearance from Only Boys Aloud.

• A special edition of Dickinson's Real Deal from Ilford aired at 15:00 for Text Santa.^[7]

• A celebrity special of The Chase aired at 17:00 on Friday 21 December for Text Santa, featuring Bradley Walsh as host with contestants Lorraine Kelly, Craig Charles, Jamelia and Dom Joly. Together they raised £22,000 for the Text Santa charities.^[8]

• A special edition of Celebrity Juice aired on ITV & UTV at 23.15, and on STV at midnight on 21 December and was once again be presented by Keith Lemon, Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby with panellists Davina McCall, Louis Smith, Aston Merrygold, Stacey Solomon and Simon Gregson.^[9][10]

• Laura Hamilton and Jeff Brazier presented a special 45-minute CITV programme at 16:00 on Friday 21 December called Text Santa: CITV Special.^[11]

Events

• On 2 December 2012, around 8,500 people took part in a 'Santa Dash' in Liverpool, attempting a Guinness World Record for the largest Santa gathering whilst raising money for Text Santa, however they didn't break the record of 13,200 santas.^[12]

• On 6 December 2012, the Biggest Bag Pack Ever took place in 200 Asda stores nationwide,^[13] celebrities including Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford helped out in the Watford branch.^[14][15]

• eBay auctions took place to raise money for Text Santa, items sold included This Morning's sofa which sold for £1,200 and a tour of the Daybreak studios in London which sold for £510.^[16]

2013 appeal

The 2013 telethon aired live on 20 December 2013. The first hour of the telethon was hosted by Ant & Dec, the second by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and the third and final hour by Christine Bleakley and Paddy McGuinness, all broadcast live from The London Studios.^[17]

Morrisons, Santander and Vodafone were Text Santa's official partners for the 2013 appeal.^[18][19][20]

An official charity single by the cast of The Big Reunion, performing a cover of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" was released in December 2013 to raise money for Text Santa.^[21]

Within other shows

• 15p from each vote on the entertainment show Stepping Out, went to the Text Santa charities.

• This Morning's 'Take a Moment' campaign raised £250,000 for the Text Santa appeal. The total was announced live on This Morning on December 2013 by Ruth Langsford, Andi Peters and Eamonn Holmes.

• On 20 December, there was a Text Santa 'takeover' on ITV, with the some of the daytime programmes showing donation clips throughout the daytime schedule.

• A Text Santa special of The Jeremy Kyle Show aired at 09:25 on 20 December. It starred Jeremy Kyle who gave deserving children a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Lapland.

• A Text Santa special of Peter Andre's 60 Minute Makeover aired from Burgess Hill in West Sussex at 14:00 on 20 December, where the team performed a makeover of the lounge at The Cherry Tree Activity Centre, run by the Text Santa charity Age UK.

• A Text Santa special of Dickinson's Real Deal aired from Edgbaston in Birmingham at 15:00 on 20 December.

• A Text Santa special of Show Me the Telly aired at 16:00 on 20 December. The show, presented by Richard Bacon featured "legends" Chris Tarrant, Simon Gregson and Vanessa Feltz and television critics Boyd Hilton, Ian Hyland and Kevin O'Sullivan who won £3,000 for Text Santa.

• A celebrity special of The Chase aired at 17:00 on 20 December, featuring Bradley Walsh as host with celebrity contestants from the ITV News, Matt Barbet, Alastair Stewart, Romilly Weeks and Charlene White. Together they raised £55,000 for the Text Santa appeal.

Events

• On 5 December 2013, Text Santa broke the Guinness World Record for the largest number of pantomime horses in a race over 100 metres.

• eBay auctions took place to raise money for Text Santa, items sold included Phillip Schofield's face made of chocolate.

References

External links