Pudsey bear made a special visit to Dorset this week to raise awareness for BBC Children in Need.

Everyone’s favourite yellow bear stopped off at primary schools, a nursing home and two hospitals on Wednesday to hand out sweets and collect money for the charity.

Last night, millions of people tuned in to the annual BBC programme to find out about the fundraising campaigns that have taken place across the country and the total amount of money raised.

Pudsey was joined on his trip to Weymouth by volunteer Esther Sheppard, who works as an admissions advisor at Gracewell of Weymouth, and together they travelled around the county armed with Haribo sweets and a collection bucket.

Their first stop was Allsorts Preschool, where children were given the opportunity to quiz Pudsey about why he is yellow, and why he wears an eyepatch over his right eye. 

The pair then headed to Gracewell of Weymouth, where Pudsey was introduced to some of the elderly care home residents.

Esther said: “We held a raffle, which included a £50 hamper and a bottle of wine donated by the care home resident’s families. It doesn’t matter what age you are, everyone loves that yellow bear. Some of the residents were delighted to see him, he really put smiles on their faces.”

After visiting the care home, Pudsey and Esther stopped at Holy Trinity Primary School and Little Firs Day Nursery before heading to Conifers Primary School, where they were ‘swamped’ by children.

Esther said: “We went to Conifers where we expected to see a class and ended up seeing the whole school, which has more than 300 children. They were at the perfect age and swamped Pudsey. The teachers were absolutely delighted and asked us to come back next year. Some of the staff wanted a picture with Pudsey.”

The pair then visited some of the county’s most vulnerable children at the Kingfisher Ward at Dorset County Hospital before ending their day with a trip to Southampton General Hospital, which Esther described a ‘humbling’ visit.

She added: “We saw a little boy at the county hospital, and he couldn’t stop staring at Pudsey’s face. The staff were all really welcoming, and Pudsey put a smile on the children’s faces.

“This year we gave out more than 400 bags of sweets. We haven’t finished counting the money but we think we must have more than £300. It is about raising awareness of Children in Need. 

“We aim to put smiles on people’s faces.

“I would like to thank Tristan Campbell. Every year he volunteers to be Pudsey. He absolutely loves it. The suit gets very hot and he takes it off and puts it on again all day. He is an absolute hero.”

Jumping Beans Pre-School on Portland got involved for this year's Children in Need.

Dorset Echo:

The school organised a tombola, cake sale, duck race and everyone dressed up in their pyjamas.

In total they raised £96.60.

The children at Wareham St Mary Primary School voted to rock up to school yesterday morning in PJs and onesies with their favourite teddy, in the hope that it would encourage families to donate to this important fundraising day. 

"We have successfully raised £160 so far for Children in Need, which means that almost every family at this school has donated today.  This is particularly impressive in the run up to Christmas and shows a tremendous sense of compassion and generosity from our small school community," said head, Nigel Becket.

Dorset Echo:

Staff at the newly-opened branch of Greggs also got in the charitable spirit and spend the day dressed up on Friday.

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Preston Pre-school managed to raise more than £50 for Children in Need.

The children got creative and made their own Pudsey ears with paint, glue and stickers. All the staff wore pyjamas and onesies, and some of the children dressed up and wore their pyjamas too.

Both staff and children had a brilliant day on Friday and wanted to thank everyone for their support.

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What did you do for this year's Children in Need? Send your pictures to newsdesk@dorsetecho.co.uk