TV charity event raises 86 million euros despite economic gloom

The 25th Téléthon, France’s annual televised 30-hour fundraising event to help research into genetic diseases in children, ended at 2am Sunday morning with pledged donations of over 86 million euros some two million more than last year. 

Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

French celebrities, including comedian Gad Elmaleh and TV presenter Sophie Davant, took part in the event which was broadcast live on the France 2 television channel and involved all the country’s state-owned channels for the first time.

Since its debut in 1987, the event has funded a number of medical advances into the cause of genetic diseases. In 1990, it helped create the Généthon laboratory which produced the first human genone map.

Christian Cottet, head of the French muscular dystrophy association, AFM, described the result of the fundraising event as “magnificent”. It follows two years of a reduction in donations.

“This result is even more remarkable given the financial difficulties French people are facing because of the economic crisis,” he said.