THOUSANDS of pounds were raised in Worcestershire and Herefordshire as the two counties went Children in Need crazy.

Nationally, the total stood at almost £13m this morning after a star-studded seven-hour TV marathon last night and a host of fund-raising activities across the country.

The figure is £600,000 up on the same period last year, when the final total hit the £20m mark.

Fund-raisers in Worcestershire dreamt up a host of activities to help keep the cash rolling in.

While schoolboy Christopher Jones, aged eight, raised £61 by swimming three lengths in Malvern, staff at insurance provider Hill House Hammond turned up for work in their worst clothes, crazy wigs and terrible make-up.

Worcester strongman Chris Wiltshire pulled a 22-ton lorry across the car park at the city's Homebase, while fellow city strongman Russ Bradley was also in action - putting his strength into hauling a fire engine and a truck together.

Youngsters at Leapfrog Day Nursery in Warndon, Worcester, dressed in pyjamas and nighties, brought their teddy bears and made Pudsey Bear biscuits to sell to parents and staff, as well as covering a giant Pudsey in cash.

Raising money was child's play for pupils at Upton CE Primary School.

The youngsters have organised a number of fund-raising activities over the past week, including a competition to guess the name of a giant teddy bear donated by a member of staff, a non-uniform day, a cake sale and a challenge to collect sufficient pennies to stretch around the school hall.

Pudsey Bear was the centre of attention at a teddy bears' picnic party when the Kindergarten Nursery in Chedworth Drive, Warndon, Worcester, invited all its children to bring their favourite teddy to join Pudsey.

A pocket money trail with a poster of Pudsey being covered in coins, face painting and fancy dress were also planned.

Meanwhile, a cake sale was due to take place in Worcester today.

Joy Hoskins and her 12-year-old son, Simon, were set to sell delicious chocolate, plain, fruit and iced cakes at 6 Middle Street, Arboretum, from 10am.

Potty about fund-raising

CHARACTERS from Hogwarts sat in classes at a Worcester school as a spellbinding way to raise money.

Pupils at the Royal Grammar School's Preparatory School dressed up as Harry Potter, Hagrid the school's gamekeeper, and Hedwig, Harry's owl, to celebrate the general release of the Harry Potter film and Children in Need.

Pupil Adam Waide won a bravery award for becoming the first girl to attend the school, after dressing up as Hermione.

The Year 5 and 6 pupils visited the Odeon cinema to see the film.

Prizes were awarded to Ben Dalton as Harry Potter, Harry Lewis-Barclay as Hagrid and Alex Ulyet from Hanbury, Droitwich, as Hedwig.

Runners-up prizes went to Chris Jones from Pershore as Ron Weasley, and Patrick Tonkinson as Dobby.

Other events at the RGS included a University Challenge between staff and students, a giant coffee morning at RGS The Grange which raised £502, and a Soak the Prefect event.

The total amount raised at the three RGS sites is expected to be more than £2,200.

Showtime for staff

CHILDREN in Need fund-raising brought out the child in everyone working at Malvern's Three Counties Showground.

Staff abandoned their smart clothes and donned school uniforms to raise £400 for needy children.

"It was a whole staff idea because it's quite a simple thing to do," said a spokeswoman.

Spelling success

QUIDDITCH lessons replaced maths as pupils at St Mary's Convent School, Worcester, raised hundreds of Muggles' pounds.

The girls at the prep school, pictured left, dressed up as characters from the Harry Potter books to raise money.

Girls at the senior school also held a sponsored aerobics session. The children raised more than £400.