A NEWSREADER has spoken of his "delight" at winning funds for a local charity on a television show.
Nicholas Owen appeared on the BBC quiz show Pointless with newsreading colleague Katie Derham, beating other celebrities to win the show and raise £1,250 for The Brigitte Trust.
The Dorking-based charity supports people facing life-threatening and terminal illnesses and Mr Owen said he had been a patron of the charity for "more years than I can remember".
"The Brigitte Trust is a charity that has become very close to my heart," he told the Advertiser.
"It does very good work and I know some of the people involved in it and what effort is put in.
"If I can do my bit and raise any sort of money I can for the charity, then I will do that.
"When I was asked to become a patron for the charity there was no way that I could refuse.
"There are lots of charities around but this is a local one that, in the main, supports local people. I was more than happy to represent them on television."
Mr Owen, whose journalistic career started at the Advertiser's sister paper the Surrey Mirror, is currently a BBC newsreader.
Appearing on the show, which aired on December 11, Mr Owen battled it out with celebrities, including comedian Stephen K Amos and singer Toyah Wilcox, in an attempt to win money for their chosen charities.
"The show was recorded about six months ago and I rather wondered if they decided to junk it because it wasn't very good," said Mr Owen, who lives in Reigate.
"Katie and I are old friends and we know each other well so it was a joy to do it with her.
"They explained the rules to us before we went on and, to be honest, I was still none the wiser.
"But it was great fun, even if it did tax the old brain. We really could not believe it when we won the show." Brigitte Trust spokeswoman Vanessa Smith said: "It was so exciting to hear our name on TV. I contacted all our volunteers beforehand and told them to watch.
"We are grateful to Nicholas for his continuing support."
To view the episode, visit www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer and search "pointless celebrities episode 2".
