Charlene White marked the work of journalists reporting from inside Ukraine during the annual charity Ultimate News Quiz.
The event sees teams from major media outlets and shows such as Channel 4 News, Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio, Good Morning Britain, Netflix and ITV News competing to raise money for national charity Action for Children.
BBC broadcaster Nick Robinson, ITV newsreader Julie Etchingham and Cathy Newman from Channel 4 News were among the attendees at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms.
This year’s edition also featured a number of lots in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
These included two novels written and signed by Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurkov and a traditional Ukrainian gingerbread cake carried by hand back from the front line in Lviv by Channel 4 News journalist Matt Frei.
White, host of the quiz, said: “I’ve only ever been on the other side of this quiz once and, as my ITV News team know, I’m rubbish at quizzes.
“So, I’m thankful to be the quizmaster this year, to give everybody else a hard time.
“But of course, there is a serious side to this evening.
“Every single newsroom here that’s taking part will be like me waking up and just hoping and praying that our correspondents and teams who are out in Ukraine are OK.
“That will be sitting heavy in the room tonight.
“We’ll be doing what we can to raise as much money, not only for Action for Children, but also for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.”
A grand auction, hosted by Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, included three items to raise money for the DEC – signed football shirts from Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko, who are both Ukrainian, and a slip-cast figurine handmade and hand-painted in Ukrainian colours by Grayson Perry of his alter ego, Claire.
The figurine comes with the artist’s signature potter’s mark.
Perry was also on hand to draw the Ultimate News Quiz raffle.
Martha Kearney, founder of the quiz, said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing so many friends from across the world of news to raise money for Action for Children, who work tirelessly to help all those families hit so badly by the pandemic.
“We are also raising money for the victims of the war in Ukraine where many colleagues are risking their lives to cover the conflict.
“This year, we’ve also included auction items where money raised will go to DEC for people suffering in Ukraine.”