A HOST of activities marked this year’s fundraising drive for Children In Need.

Students and staff at Bourne-mouth University set a record for the most people dressed as superheroes in one place.

They needed to get more than 100 participants to get into the Guinness Book of Records... and made it with 103.

The stunt raised money for the BBC appeal by asking the students to donate £5 each to enter.

A car filled with teddy bears drew donations from shoppers at Southbourne and Castlepoint.

Contributions were collected by children from the Bears Hide Away Day Nursery accompanied by a life-sized Pudsy.

Passers-by were invited to guess how many bears were squeezed into it for £1 a guess.

There was also a cake stall and bric-a-brac outside the nursery, which raised over £500.

At Epiphany School in Bournemouth, year six students organised a cake stall, games, dancing and entertainment.

Cllr Michael Weinhonig had his beard and hair shaved off at Rias, and at Homebase on Mallard Road retail park, Jim Bald had his head shaved.

People donated money to leave handprints on the Village Hotel at Wessex Fields, Bournemouth, and they also had a balloon race, with Dorset Fire and Rescue Service in attendance.

The North Bournemouth Children’s Centre in West Howe also organised fun activities.

Staff at Cash Generator in Boscombe had 15,000 donated pennies in a wheelbarrow to add to the fund.

At Lytchett Matravers School, children and teachers dressed up in a variety of costumes.

They had a collection of small change and organised a cake sale to add to the funds.

Children and staff of Spetisbury Primary School turned up in their pyjamas and brought their teddies along.

Children and staff at Old Town First School in Poole also wore their pyjamas, paying £1 each for the privilege.

They rounded off the day with a pyjama party in the newly finished school hall – the first time the children had been in it.

Boots staff in Poole’s Dolphin Centre also got involved with fundraising efforts, dressing up and baking and selling cakes.

Team members took turns on an exercise bike – riding from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

Team manager Charlotte Buckland said: “Customers have been donating anything from 10p to £10. They’ve been very generous.”

Customers at Poole’s Hawkins Bazaar in the Dolphin Shopping Centre found themselves being served by characters ranging from Minnie Mouse to Cruella de Ville, while a “guess the number of bears” competition offered a prize of a toy rabbit or pig.

Staff dressed in yellow and red to reflect Pudsey’s colours, pedalled in a bike-a-thon to raise funds from shoppers at Asda, Poole, while a hairdresser shaped and shaved heads.

The Chewton Glen Hotel at New Milton will be the destination next summer for the successful bidders in a Radio 2 on-air auction organised by DJ Chris Evans in aid of the appeal.

Chris has arranged for seven of the most desirable Ferrari sportscars in the world to be made available for listeners to drive from London to the New Forest for a banquet and overnight stay at the spa hotel.

The following day the auction winners in the Drivetime Magnificent Seven competition will drive into Sussex for the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Early on-air bidding had taken the value of the prize into tens of thousands.

Additional reporting byJuliette Astrup and Simon Lewis