Tracey GrayFundraising for this year's Children In Need event has already started in earnest around the county.This weekend looks set to be full of events taking place to help to push up the total for the annual event which raises money for children in the UK and abroad.Tracey Gray

Fundraising for this year's Children In Need campaign has already started in earnest in Norfolk.

This weekend looks set to be full of events taking place to help to push up the total for the annual event which raises money for children in the UK and abroad.

And the lead presenter of Children In Need - Sir Terry Wogan - is putting in an appearance in Norfolk to help fundraise, dressed in nothing more than flip-flops and a casual shirt.

Attleborough artist Charley Patrick is displaying an oil painting of Wogan at the town's White House Gallery and donating the proceeds of its sale to charity.

The tastefully framed portrait features Wogan sitting at a bench, bare-legged, eating a cooked breakfast and supping a pint of Guinness.

Gallery owner Rosemary Lovatt said: "They're very short shorts, if he is wearing any. Lots of people have stopped and looked at him; he's attracted a lot of interest."

She said she hoped that Wogan's large fan base would help the painting attract a buyer before the main fundraising day on Friday, November 20.

Norfolk-based Mr Patrick was currently a "total unknown" in the world of art, said Mrs Lovatt, and shied away from publicity.

He walked into the gallery a fortnight ago with the unusual painting and asked if it could be sold and the proceeds donated to charity.

Any offers for the painting can be made by calling 01953 851562.

Other fundraisers have already started their preparations - some as early as summer this year.

Gym members at Fitness 2000 in Southtown Road, Great Yarmouth, are going the extra mile for the event - or rather 40,000km.

Since June 9, more than 100 members have been logging their distances during training sessions on rowers, treadmills and stationary bikes with the aim of collectively totalling 40,000km, equivalent to the distance around the Earth's equator.

Running fanatic John Mann has been leading the way, clocking up 20 to 30km in single sessions on the treadmill.

Are you organising a fundraising event for Children In Need? If so, send your pictures and the amount raised to tracey.gray@archant.co.uk.