Telethon donations down on last year

DONATIONS to the Téléthon have fallen for the second year running, as the future of the French television fundraising marathon remains in doubt.

The charity event, which ran for 30 hours on the French public TV network this weekend, has raised €84m so far for the muscular dystrophy charity AFM (Association Française Contre les Myopathies) - down 6.7 per cent on last year's initial estimate of €90.1m.

AFM president Laurence Tiennot-Herment said this year's result was "a good figure" considering the economic crisis.

The charity said about 40 per cent of the funds raised typically came from public events, many of which had to be cancelled because of the snow.

Donations are still coming in. Last year's final total was €5m higher than the initial estimate, at €95.2m, but still down 10 per cent on the 2008 final figure of €104.9m.

France Télévisions is considering making changes to the Téléthon format from next year, after the event was accused of "leeching off people's generosity", to the detriment of other charities.

Pierre Bergé, the president of Aids charity Sidaction, said in an interview shortly before the 2009 fundraiser began that he believed the Téléthon raised too much money for a single cause.

AFM has been the sole beneficiary of the fundraising effort for the past 23 years. It receives more than 80 per cent of its annual income from the TV event. The partnership comes up for renewal in 2011.

Related stories:
Telethon 'raises too much money'
Telethon faces axe after controversy