ENERGY firm npower in Worcester is preparing for another busy night tomorrow, as the official call centre for Children in Need.

This is the third time npower’s Worcester contact centre has manned the phones for the fundraising appeal with almost 100 employees volunteering their Friday night to take the all-important donations.

It is the seventh year running npower has been selected to host Children in Need’s official call centres, with three of the company’s offices across the country taking part this year.

On the night, volunteers will be joined by special guests the Mayor of Worcester Jabba Riaz, city MP Robin Walker and Worcestershire County cricketers and Twenty20 2018 Champions Dillon Pennington and Josh Tongue. npower’s chief executive Paul Coffey will also be on hand showing his support.

Ahead of the appeal, volunteers have spent weeks fundraising in the office by selling Children In Need merchandise and holding raffles. The teams even got a visit from Pudsey himself this week, who stopped by the office to encourage donations.

Karen Hughes, npower team manager and organiser of the activity, said: “I’m proud and honoured to be part of such an amazing event.

"This is my third year working on Children In Need at npower and I love it.

"The hard work in that goes into planning things down to the last detail to the cheers as the large donations come in on the night.

"This year we are planning bigger and better than before, and a big surprise on the evening too.’’

Last year 110 employees manned the 50 dedicated phone lines taking almost 2,000 calls throughout the night. Donations taken totalled over £80,000 – adding to the more than £50million raised for the charity last year.

Children in Need works to ensure that every child in the UK has a safe, happy and secure childhood, and the chance to reach their full potential.

It relies on thousands of fundraisers and supporters across the UK, who donate their time and money to put on events supporting the appeal.

To make a donation visit bbcchildreninneed.co.uk.