The BBC has two corporate charities. Children in Need is our UK-based charity which provides grants to thousands of projects which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged throughout the UK. BBC Media Action is our international development charity. It makes TV, radio and multimedia content, and mentors journalists and broadcasters to help people in some of the poorest parts of the world.
Whilst having a close working relationship with the BBC neither of these charities is funded from the licence fee, and each is governed by a Board of Trustees which ensures that they operate in the best interest of the charity.
We also support many other charities either on an ongoing basis such as Comic Relief, Sports Relief and the annual St Martin-in-the-Field Christmas Appeal or through our weekly Radio 4 appeal, the monthly Lifeline appeal on BBC One, and broadcast appeals in specific parts of the UK.
Find out more about our broadcast appeals including the criteria for selection.
We also work alongside other broadcasters to support the Disasters Emergency Committee when an overseas humanitarian crisis occurs.
All of our work in these areas is overseen by the Charity Appeals Advisory Committee made up of independent experts from outside the BBC with wide experience of the charitable sector.