New style Serious Request raised €1.3 million

Broadcaster 3FM's annual fund raiser Serious Request brought in 1,308,889 euros this year, the radio broadcaster announced on Monday. This year the fundraiser abandoned its traditional Glass House, instead sending teams of DJs to visit various fundraising actions, NU.nl reports.

Between December 18th and 24th, the radio station and the Red Cross created a so-called 'Lifeline'. For 24 hours a day, three teams of two DJs visited fundraisers in various cities and towns intended to raise money for charities in the Netherlands and abroad. The fundraiser ended in the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht on Monday, where Serious Request started in 2004.

Serious Request: Lifeline raised 477,963 euros for resuscitation in the Netherlands, 378,963 for protection against natural disasters, and 451,963 euros for emergency aid for war and conflict zones.

"We are very proud that this first edition of this new concept enabled the Netherlands to take action for the Red Cross and thereby raise this wonderful amount with which hundreds of thousands of people can be helped", Sharid Alles, station manager of NPO 3FM, said in a statement. "We also succeeded in generating a lot of attention for the three charities. Awareness about these charities of the Red Cross is what 3FM Serious Request: Lifeline is all about."