Total is the lowest total since 2014 – and way below the highest, which was £50m in 2018

The cost of living crisis took its toll on the BBC’s major Children In Need fundraiser – with the total dropping by more than £4 million from last year.

Its 2022 Great SPOTacular Appeal raised £35,273,167 by the end of Friday night’s live TV show – down from £39.4m at the same point in 2021.

The total is the lowest total since 2014 – and way below the highest, which was £50m in 2018.

It is clear that people’s worries about the coming winter and the cost of living crisis had an impact on donations.

Simon Antrobus, chief executive of BBC Children in Need, said: “Tonight will be an evening I will never forget, not least because of the overwhelming kindness and generosity shown at a time when things are incredibly hard for so many.

“We have laughed, we have cried and we have been thoroughly entertained, but above all, we have shown the UK’s children and young people that we are here for them.

“Too many children and young people across the UK are being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, but the money raised this evening will, quite simply, change their lives and their futures.”