My relationship with Blue Peter started when I was about six and a half, when I was a runner-up in one of the competitions.

I’ve still got my badge and letter in their original envelope and it definitely is a treasured possession.

The presenters I remember most as a child were Sarah Greene, Peter Duncan, Simon Groom and Janet Ellis, because they signed my congratulations letter together with Biddy Baxter, who was producer and then editor of the show from 1962-1988. Biddy, working with Edward Barnes and Rosemary Gill, introduced many of the core elements still seen in the show today.

I started with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 20 years ago. It was Blue Peter’s 40th birthday year and I was working as a runner on a behind-the-scenes highlights programme, Re-Peter. In 2008, I was the live studio producer for the 50th and now I’m editor on the 60th. Blue Peter has been the best job I’ve had in Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Children’s.

The key to Blue Peter’s lasting success is that the audience are really at the heart of everything we do. We now have record amounts of post which shows how sending and receiving handwritten letters in a digital world is extra special to the children who watch.

So far in 2018 we’ve received over 105,000 pieces of correspondence, compared to 40,000 in 2011. Every letter is read and everyone gets a personalised reply. Children love to see their work on screen and their ideas influencing the content we make.

We recently worked with Oxford University Press who analysed 1,000 Blue Peter letters with some interesting results. They found that viewers had great use of letter writing conventions with some unexpectedly formal phrases for this age group including ‘Dear Blue Peter’, ‘Yours sincerely’, ‘Yours faithfully’, with more boys using the more formal endings than girls and the most popular word was, not surprisingly, ‘badge’.

The National Literacy Trust also included Blue Peter and letter writing in their annual Literacy Survey – more than 49,000 children were included and over a third still write letters in their free time, with more girls than boys putting pen to paper.

Participation is key, and we still give exceptional opportunities for our audience to take part in competitions, most recently to be part of the RAF100 flypast over Buckingham Palace and to design our Big Birthday hot air balloon for an epic challenge for the 60th.

I always get asked, ‘is Blue Peter still on’? And the answer is yes of course, it’s on CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, 52 weeks of the year, live from MediaCityUK. For the birthday we have a live one hour special on 16 October at 5pm on CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, repeated on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two early on Saturday evening. It will have a mix of content that all generations and families will love, but essentially we are remaining true to the current show and to our audience who watch us every week.

We have the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic Orchestra and musical performances from Jonas Blue and HRVY, The Vamps, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who was a child when her mum, Janet, presented the show. Ed Sheeran will be getting a Gold Badge and presenter Lindsey will be flying a hot air balloon, solo, over a massive frozen lake in Finland.

The armed forces have always been keen to support the show and recognise its maritime history – Blue Peter is named after a nautical signal flag. Radzi visited HMS Queen Elizabeth and they helped arrange a special birthday message for us on a huge scale, out at sea.

We’ll have 28 past presenters joining us on the day and a 60th anniversary highlights film will remind everyone of what the show has stood for over the last 60 years.

Also, children voted in their thousands for which items they wanted to include in the Diamond Time Capsule. It will be sealed and stored in The National Archive until 2038 which, as a non-government record, is a very rare event. Blue Peter gets amazing access to places and experiences for its audience.

Blue Peter is a very special club to be part of - 198,000 under- 15s have a badge - and the Big Birthday show will be a moment to remember. For the successive production teams who’ve worked on it, for people who’ve helped shape it – creator John Hunter Blair and editors Biddy Baxter, Lewis Bronze, Oliver Macfarlane, Steve Hocking, Richard Marson and Tim Levell – but most importantly, for its audience.

I hope all generations enjoy reliving their favourite memories, seeing ‘their’ presenters again, but also admire our current team, Lindsey and Radzi, as they fly the flag for Blue Peter in 2018. I am confident that, in the digital age, the show will continue to successfully navigate its way through new technology, adapting and changing as it always has, while still staying true to its core beliefs.

You can watch the Blue Peter 60th birthday special on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer, from 16 October.