Comic Relief is a charity committed to helping end poverty and social injustice.

They tackle this by:

• raising money from the general public by actively involving them in events and projects that are innovative and fun.
  

• informing, educating, raising awareness and promoting social change.
  

• allocating the funds we raise in a responsible and effective way to a wide range of charities which we select after careful research.
  

• ensuring that our Red Nose Day fundraising costs are covered by sponsorship in cash or in kind so that every penny raised goes to charity.

Lenny Henry

Every single project Comic Relief support is helping poor and disadvantaged people in the UK , Africa or the world's poorest countries to turn their lives around and make positive changes in their communities.

Since Comic Relief began, the've made nearly 6,000 grants worth over £210 million. Over 4,600 of those, totalling more than £75 million, have been to projects working across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Over 1,200 totalling over £130 million have been to projects working in Africa. Recently, we've also made 28 grants totalling over £2.6 million to projects working in some of the poorest countries around the world.

Comic Relief continues to spend money at home in the UK because across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, there are both individuals and whole communities, struggling to overcome poverty, disadvantage or injustice.

• Disabled people are still being denied equal rights

• Every year thousands of women and children are forced to flee violent homes

• Young people continue to live and work on the streets and some are exploited for sex

• Teenagers experience problems with drugs and alcohol

• Older people are too easily written off and denied opportunities to participate in society

• People living in deprived communities do not have the resources to make the changes they need and want to make

• People arriving in the UK in search of freedom and safety are often met with hostility and prejudice

• Thousands of people experience discrimination because of the colour of their skin, their culture or their sexuality.

Many of the people facing these challenges have few opportunities to make positive changes to their lives. Their voices go unheard and many just don't have access to the resources, support and services they really need. Many are powerless, excluded from participating in society and forced to live on the margins. We want to help them win their fight for the justice they deserve.

Over the years, we have seen so many people throughout the UK turn their lives around and change the future of their communities in the face of adversity. We have been overwhelmed and inspired by their spirit, strength and determination, and their capacity to make the very most of Comic Relief cash.

HISTORY :

Comic Relief was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 in response to famine in Ethiopia. It now raises money for Africa and disadvantaged people in the UK. It was launched live on Noel Edmonds' Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1, on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan. Initially funds were raised from live events, the most notable being a comedy revue at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London which was subsequently broadcast on television on 25 April 1986.

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. It is held in the spring every other year and is often treated as a semi-holiday, with, for example, schools having non-uniform days. The day culminates in a live television event on BBC1 starting in the evening and going through into the early hours of the morning, but other money-raising events take place.

As the name suggests, the day involves the wearing of plastic red noses, which are available, in exchange for a donation, from many shops. There are also larger noses designed to be attached to the fronts of cars or even buildings. The design of the nose has been changed each year, beginning with a fairly plain one, which later grew arms and legs, turned into a tomato and even changed colour. See the table below.

The first "Red Nose Day" was on 5 February 1988, which raised £15 million. The TV show was hosted by Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones and Jonathan Ross. More than £210 million has so far been distributed to projects by Comic Relief. Administrative costs are covered by corporate sponsors to ensure all public donations are passed on to the supported projects.

On television

Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor and Julia Sawalha as Emma

in 1999's Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death

The television programming begins in the afternoon, with children's BBC having various related reports, money-raising events and a celebrity gungeing. This is all in-between the regular programmes, but after the six o'clock news, the normal schedule is suspended in favour of a live show, with each hour overseen by a different celebrity team. These celebrities do the work for free, as do the crew, with studio space donated by the BBC.

Regular themes throughout the shows include parodies of recent popular shows, films and events and specially-filmed versions of comedy shows. Smith & Jones and a parody sketch starring Rowan Atkinson are both regularly featured – the first being Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988).

1999 event

Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, a parody of the Doctor Who series starring Rowan Atkinson as The Doctor, was featured during the show.

2001 event

In 2001 the total raised on Red Nose Day was in excess of £55 million. As well as donations on the night of the TV show money is raised from countrywide sponsored events and from merchandising, particularly of the red noses themselves. In 2001 5.8 million red noses were sold, approximately one each for 10% of the UK population.

Jack Dee won Celebrity Big Brother.

2003 event

The 2003 "Red Nose Day" was held on March 14, 2003. The fund raising activities for included Lenny Henry providing the voice of the speaking clock between March 10 and March 23 with the cost of the call going to Comic Relief. On the night of the live show itself, £35m was raised, an on-the-night record. A total of £61 million was raised that year, setting a new record.

Jack Dee stood outside at the top of a pole for the duration of the show, parodying the acts of David Blaine.

Billy Connoly in Mozambique

2005 event

The 2005 Red Nose Day was held on March 11 and was hosted by a collection of television stars:

• Chris Evans

• Lenny Henry

• Davina McCall

• Graham Norton

• Dermot O'Leary

• Jonathan Ross

The 2005 event was also noteworthy for supporting the Make Poverty History campaign

Shows included

As usual a variety of specially-filmed versions of television shows were made. Popular BBC talent show Fame Academy was attended by celebrities singing cover versions of songs – viewers voted for their favourite with the proceeds going to the cause and the celebrity. 

Other shows included:

Little Britain

My Family

The Vicar of Dibley

Spider-plant Man, a parody of Spider-Man starring Rowan Atkinson, was also featured.

Donation progress

Times approximate and amounts rounded to the nearest million where not stated exactly:

• 7:30pm - £2 million

• 8:30pm - £7 million

• 9:30pm - £18 million

• 10pm - £22 million

• 11:30pm - £30,503,394

• 12:45am - £35,325,862

• 02:00am - £37,809,564

Types of nose and amounts raised by Comic Relief

Source notes. The 'amount raised' figures from 1988 to 1999 are taken from[1] (http://www.comicrelief.org.uk/comicrelief/story.shtml). Note that that site has not been updated since before 2001 for which it lists an estimated figure. The 2001 and 2003 figures are from various sources. The description of noses was obtained from a history of the nose at [2] (http://www.rednoseday.com/flash/nasalhistory.swf).

Comic Relief charity singles

In April 1986 the first Comic Relief charity single was released. It featured Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones in a rendition of "Living Doll".

Some of the money raised from the sale of each of the charity singles (details follow) was donated to Comic Relief. Normally a song is released to just before the official Red Nose Day.

There have been exceptions, such as "(I want to be) Elected" that was released to coincide with the 1992 UK general election. Before 1995's song, they were all more-or-less comedy records, mostly involving an actual band or singer and a comedy group. From then on, until 2005, the charity singles were generally more serious, although the videos still feature comical moments.

† - "Is This the Way to Amarillo", though released expressedly with the intent of proceeds going to Comic Relief, is not an official Comic Relief single.

Criticism

On October 5, 2004, the Burma Campaign UK criticised Comic Relief for its association with the multinational DHL, a partner of Myanmar Post and Telecom. John Jackson, head of Burma Campaign UK, noted that they were aiding war victims in Rwanda while funding the military regime in Myanmar.

In March, 2005, several Catholic schools in South Wales were banned from supporting Red Nose Day by church leaders because of claims that money raised would fund abortions in Africa. Reports of this were denied by other church leaders.

Similar events outside the United Kingdom

In the United States

Inspired by the British charity, a United States Comic Relief charity was founded in 1986 by Bob Zmuda.

Comic Relief is an irregularly held event, televised on HBO, that has raised and distributed nearly $50 million toward providing health care services to homeless men, women, and children throughout the United States. Comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg are hosts of the event.

In Australia

A Red Nose Day, without a related television programme is held each year in Australia to raise money to research the causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Helping relieve poverty

What do Comic Relief fund in Africa?

The continent of Africa has huge potential but it also has huge needs. Poverty and disadvantage are widespread and profound. More than 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living on less than $1 a day, and millions have no access to clean drinking water, sanitation, health care, education or safe housing. According to the United Nations Human Development Index, the 20 poorest countries in the world are all in Africa. Aid to Africa from rich countries has fallen by 40% over the past 10 years, and commercial investment in Africa is very low compared to other regions.

Many people in Africa work incredibly hard to try and change things, to build better, more secure futures for their families and communities. But debt, drought, unfair trade rules, AIDS and war all prevent people from realising their aspirations.

In Africa, as in the UK, there are some groups of people, such as women and disabled people, who are more disadvantaged than others. They find it harder than most to fulfil their potential, to access services to meet their basic needs, or to obtain their fundamental rights.

Comic Relief have developed an international grants programme because we have started receiving money from all over the world from fundraising projects other than Red Nose Day. Sales of two special ‘Harry Potter’ books written by JK Rowling for Comic Relief have already generated several million pounds through worldwide sales and it only seems right that this money should have a wider spread than just Africa.

As a result, we will use this money to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children and young people in some of the poorest countries across the world. Many children and young people face terrible poverty, discrimination and neglect. They are often forced into activities that are dangerous and prevent them from reaching their potential. The money raised will give practical help to provide protection, education and training. We will also support work that helps children and young people to get their voices heard and their rights recognised, so others don’t have to suffer what they have.

The facts speak for themselves:

• 600 million children live in poverty.

• 125 million primary-school-age children are not in school.

• 120 million children between five and 14 work full time and a further 130 million work part time.

• 300,000 child soldiers are actively fighting in 41 countries throughout the world.

• Between 1993 and 1996 45% of victims of war were children.

• In the 1990s war and conflict made 12 million children homeless, 4 million were maimed or became disabled, and 10 million witnessed acts of brutality.

• 34.7 million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.

• 2 million children are involved in prostitution.

LINKS :

More Comic Relief links

• BBC Red Nose Day

• Enter Newsround's exclusive competition

• Join the ‘Send My Friend to School’ campaign

• Newsround's Fame Academy site

• Vote for Abs' RND costume on Xchange!