SINGAPORE Press Holdings' (SPH) youth charity concert ChildAid has raised a record $1 million to help needy children.

The money will support two charities - The Straits Times (ST) School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, SPH said in a press release.

Strong corporate support and brisk ticket sales boosted this year's tally to $1,015,000, double last year's fund-raising total of $506,000. The concert's takings crossed the $1-million mark after Citibank and PricewaterhouseCoopers pledged $100,000 and $30,000 respectively on Monday.

The concert will be held at Resorts World Sentosa from Saturday to next Monday. It will be the first event to be held at the integrated resort, which is the venue and production partner for the concert.

Tickets for the concert sold out last week.

ChildAid organising chairman Peter Khoo praised the Singapore public for their generosity despite the challenging economic year.

Said Mr Khoo, who is also organising chairman of The ST School Pocket Money Fund: "The recession has affected everyone. Yet, Singaporeans have once again responded with tremendous heart. It shows that they believe in the ChildAid cause of showcasing young talents who want to help their less-fortunate peers.

"The public's generosity is timely because there are more needy children due to the economic crisis."

This year saw the highest number of beneficiaries - 12,500 - on the ST Fund since its inception in 2000. This is higher than the 10,419 supported during the Sars years of 2003-2004.

Mr Khoo said main sponsors Citibank, Stuttgart Auto, HSBC, New Creation Church and Cerebos doubled their donations, compared to last year.

The concert will showcase 274 performers aged from four to 19 years. A total of 15 acts will take to the stage, including seven youths from Malaysia and Indonesia.