Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal will be based at a new home from next year.

For the last 11 years the Appeal has been based at Etihad Stadium (formerly Telstra Dome) in Melbourne’s Docklands. From 2014 it will be staged at The Plenary, the 2500-seat auditorium at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre located at South Wharf.

The new location will house the all-day telethon, broadcast through HSV Seven Melbourne and across Victoria on Prime7, as well as other activities on Good Friday including the Kids’ Day Out and hosting community groups that conduct fundraising events for the Appeal.

Penny Fowler, chairman of the Herald and Weekly Times, said the Appeal has come a long way since it was founded by the media group in 1931:

“Activities for the Good Friday Appeal had humble beginnings in the loading dock of the former Herald & Weekly Times building in Flinders Street – it’s amazing how far the Appeal has come since then; we are proud of our 83-year association with the Appeal and we hope as many Victorians as possible will embrace the new venue at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.”

Lewis Martin, managing director of HSV, said:

“With this move, the Good Friday Appeal will be taken to a whole new level in 2014 – as TV entertainment, as a family day out, and most importantly as a way to raise money for the sick children of Victoria.”

This year’s Good Friday Appeal raised a record $16.4 million for research and development at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Since its inception in 1931 the appeal has raised over $258 million.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal is a joint venture between the Herald and Weekly Times, Seven and radio stations 3AW and Magic 1278.