Vernon Kay was left in tears as BBC Radio 2 listeners shared their own Children In Need stories amid supporting Paddy McGuinness’ Ultra Endurance Challenge for the charity.
McGuinness - who presents his own show on the station - has pledged to cycle 300 miles through Wales, England and Scotland in just five days.
He’s currently on day four and according to figures released this morning, has raised over £3m which will go to Children In Need’s work supporting children and young people in the UK who are facing disadvantages.
Kay, who completed his own Ultra ULTRA Marathon challenge last year where he raised over £6 million for the charity, has been vocal in his support for his colleague.
In his continuous efforts to rally his listeners to support McGuinness by donating, he was left in bits during his show on Thursday as some shared their own experiences of being helped by the work of the charity.
Shortly after McGuinness set off, Kay launched an appeal to locate an item that he felt would make a particularly poignant gift for him when he crosses the finishing line.
Earlier this year, McGuinness explored his family history on BBC series Who Do You Think You Are. He was lost for words when he was shown a medal that was awarded to his grandfather for serving in the Boer War - a tangible connection to a grandfather he never knew.
McGuinness’s relative joined the war effort to escape a life of poverty. Kay thinks it would make an even more appropriate gift to McGuinnness for that reason, saying: "It brings us full circle to what we're doing for Children in Need, trying to jump kids out of a life in poverty."
The medal, was in a private collection, who lent the medal to an auction house and nobody knew its exact location - until now.
The precious item has now been tracked to Noonans auctioneers, who say they have bought it back from who they sold it to in May 2021, and are hoping to present it to McGuinness at the finish line.
