Dominic Bareham GENEROUS fundraisers across the region pulled off some crazy stunts for a serious purpose to help raise money for the annual BBC Children in Need appeal.

Dominic Bareham

GENEROUS fundraisers across the region pulled off some crazy stunts for a serious purpose to help raise money for the annual BBC Children in Need appeal.

Some of the more wacky ideas for ways to make money included a sponsored nun's canoe race and an eating challenge where the competitors had to devour a chocolate cake weighing 4lbs containing 7,600 calories.

And in Norfolk there were plenty of madcap antics with fundraisers dressing up in pyjamas, shaving their heads and even bathing in beans all in aid of the charity appeal to help disadvantaged children in the UK.

Closer to home, staff at the Great Yarmouth branch of Boots literally put the walking shoes on their own Pudsey Bear's feet and took him around seven schools, one nursery and the children's ward at the James Paget University Hospita.

One of the stops was at Alderman Swindell Infant School in Yarmouth where Pudsey attended the school's assembly and handed out stickers to children who had done something good.

The intrepid bear then ventured to Cliff Park Middle School in Gorleston where he met the school's headteacher Chris Tye and Janet Rigby, head of Cliff Park Infants School. The school's pupils had been asked to dress like Mr Tye.

During his visit, Pudsey also participated in one of the children's exercise classes and danced to the Abba hit Mamma Mia.

Next stop was Greenacre Primary School in Yarmouth where the pupils had a special breakfast and made Pudsey puppets and badges, while at the town's St George's Primary School where the bear joined the pupils for lunch.

Afterwards, the schoolchildren headed for the playground to show off their Pudsey bandanas to the impressed bear.

Pupils at Peterhouse Primary School held a biscuit sale to raise money for the appeal and met the campaign's mascot when Pudsey popped in to say h' and view himself in paintings the children had made which have pride of place in the corridor.

Next on the Pudsey tour was a visit to Southtown Primary where he participated in assembly and witnessed some of the wacky hats made by the children before heading to Cascade Nursery in Gorleston where the children had raised £950.

And last, but certainly not least ,Pudsey visited the children's ward at the James Paget to cheer up some of the patients before visiting staff in the hospital's Accident and Emergency ward.

So far, £1.7m has been raised in the East of England for the appeal.

A CLACTON man showed his true colours by dying his hair pink to raise over £240 for Children in Need while he was staying at Seacroft Holiday Village in Hemsby.

Bernard Boxall, 69, was just dye-ing to show how brave he was by getting the pink barnet done last Thursday while he was staying with his wife Jan between Monday and Friday .