Bunbury gal Natalie Barr often finds herself having to explain to work mates what a big deal Telethon is

As the token West Australian in the Seven contingent that jets into Perth for Telethon, Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr finds herself having to explain to some of her east coast colleagues exactly what the weekend means to this side of the country.

Of course, they know the basics. They have been briefed about the millions of dollars the event raises for charities each year, the multitude of causes it supports and its integral role in making sure WA punches well above its weight when it comes to research into children’s health.

But it takes a West Aussie to really get across to them exactly why Telethon is not just another fundraiser – it’s part of the heart and soul of this state.

“Shirvo (Sunrise co-host Matt Shirvington), it might have been his first year last year, so I did have to sort of say: ‘Listen, this is bigger than anything you’ve probably entered into in your whole life’,” Barr, who grew up in Bunbury, says.

“And I can remember coming back and talking to him the next week. And he’s like, ‘Wow, you were right. There is nothing like this in Australia.’ It’s just really hard to explain. It’s so much fun. It’s like a whirlwind from the minute you get off the plane.”

Barr is going to be in the middle of that whirlwind this weekend as she takes part in the 56th Telethon.

The event raised a record-breaking $71.4 million last year, but records are made to be broken, and with 107 charities set to receive funding thanks to this year’s event, the pressure will be on to make it bigger and better than ever.

Barr is chatting to PLAY on the phone from Sydney ahead of her trip west, having just wrapped up filming Sunrise. It was, she says, a “terrible” day – the story dominating headlines is the Middle East violence. And along with Shirvington, they were bringing viewers the latest news and images from the conflict.

But there were moments of levity. She brightens when describing how they also gave away more than $4000 to a competition winner who burst into tears as the money would have a major impact on their family.

Does Barr find it difficult to switch from covering heavy topics to the light-hearted side of breakfast television?

“I think that’s pretty normal,” she says. “No one really sits and talks about really heavy topics for four hours straight. If you’re talking to your family or your friends at the dinner table or at a barbecue you might talk about a horrible subject but you’d rarely sit there and talk about it for four hours. You get on to other topics. And that’s what we do at breakfast.”

That light and shade also capture the essence of Telethon. While the cause is serious – battling childhood illness is no laughing matter – the weekend fundraiser is designed to be a lot of fun. Barr says her defining memory of last year’s weekend was being roped into a lip-synch challenge.

“Lip-synching sounds easy until you are on a stage in front of hundreds of people with many, many more thousands of people watching, and it was quite nerve-racking, surprisingly,” Barr says. “It’s way harder than I thought, but a lot of fun. So Shirvo and I will be lip-synching our way through Telethon this year.”

They have had a year to practise, so we will be expecting big things from them.

“Can you not say that!” she says. “I have no rhythm. That’s why I kept saying no to Dancing with the Stars. They used to ask me for all those years. As my husband says ‘You’ve got no rhythm. Don’t ever go in that competition.’ So yeah, prancing around on the stage is pretty difficult, but it was a lot of fun.”

She says her Telethon schedule is packed. There will be no time to nip down to Bunbury to see her family. But she is looking forward to getting back to WA for a holiday over Christmas. This trip is all about joining her fellow West Aussies to work towards a goal.

“I just have an overall sense of pride that I think all West Australians do, no matter where we end up, to fly back in with colleagues from every other part of Australia, and think, ‘wow, we do this as a state and I’m part of it’. This is part of my heritage. This is part of my history. And I’m so damn proud that the state still does it,” Barr says.

“At some point through the weekend, you’ll be laughing and crying with pride that WA does something that nowhere else in the world does.”

“The thing that really captures you is that everyone from the volunteer driver that takes that picks you up from the airport to everyone you encounter along that Telethon journey weekend, is one: volunteering their time which is unheard of. There is nothing like that on the east coast. And two: so proud of what WA still does all these years later. And three: ready to have the best and most incredible time and make the most of what Telethon is do it for the right reasons. It’s something else.”

Telethon kicks off today at 7pm at RAC Arena and runs for 26 hours. It is broadcast live on Channel 7 and 7Plus.