A 24-hour table tennis marathon at the BBC headquarters in Manchester raised more than £1,500 for Sport Relief – with some big names from the sport joining in.

Commonwealth Games medallist Maria Tsaptsinos was there at the end as producers Joe Bradshaw and Matt Parratt completed the ‘So Long Ping Pong’ challenge at the BBC buildings in Salford Quays at 4pm on Friday, the day of Sport Relief.

The previous day, Paralympians Ross Wilson and Aaron McKibbin took to the table, while Table Tennis England’s very own Andrea Holt, who competed at the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympics, coached the pair in the run-up to the challenge.

Joe said: “We’ve raised £1,480 for Sport Relief, plus Gift Aid of about £300. Maria was a brilliant last person to have along and such a great sport. As well as Ross and Aaron, we also had guest appearances from BBC presenters OJ Borg, Chris Hawkins and Rhys Stephenson and Love Island’s Dr Alex George.

“We’ve just about recovered, after a lot of sleeping this weekend, and are both having withdrawal symptoms from not playing table tennis. I think we’re now addicted!”

Meanwhile, staff from Table Tennis England and Badminton England raised just under £55 on the day from a table tennis competition and bake sale.

* Sport Relief is a national campaign held every two years, encouraging ordinary people to get active and raise money through the power of sport. The money is used to fight poverty and inequality in both the UK and around the world.