Red Nose Day 2022 takes £42.8 million on appeal night
Melanie May | 21 March 2022 | News
On its first outing as an annual event, 2022’s Red Nose Day raised £42.8 million – passing the milestone of £1.5 billion raised in its 37 years.
The on-the-night total was £9 million less than 2021, when it reached £55 million. Donations are still coming in.
Money raised by Red Nose Day this year will support people in the UK and around the world to live free from poverty, violence and discrimination, and support people with their mental health. Some of the money will also go to organisations providing essential support for people in Ukraine and supporting Comic Relief’s funding to help refugees in other parts of the world.
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The Red Nose Day Show was broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Salford for the very first time, and presented by Alesha Dixon, David Tennant, Paddy McGuinness and Sir Lenny Henry.
Comic Relief’s co-founder, Sir Lenny Henry, said:
“Doing Red Nose Day right now, when times are truly difficult, makes me think – this is exactly why we set it up. Comic Relief has been built on the urgent need to help people in crisis and right now donations are needed more than ever. Seeing families, friends, kids, teachers and colleagues come together to help raise this incredible amount of money is remarkable. To still donate despite the challenging time we are in, shows the kindness of our country.”
This year’s fundraising included:
- Olympic champion Tom Daley OBE raise £1,027,111 with his Hell of a Homecoming: a four-day challenge which saw him undertake four new Team GB disciplines – rowing, cycling, open-water swimming and marathon running – and travel 290 miles from London to Plymouth.
- BBC Radio 1 DJ Jordan North took on a 100-mile Red Nose Day row between London and Burnley in Rowing Home with Jordan North, raising over £826,307 for Red Nose Day so far.
- TK Maxx teamed up with eleven artists to create a collection of T-shirts. The limited-edition Red Nose Day collection also included aprons, tote bags, notebooks and more, available from Homesense.
- The return of the plastic-free, plant-based Red Nose from Sainsbury’s came in the form of eight new animal characters.
- Illustrator Sir Quentin Blake also designed an exclusive range of tote bags, made from 100% recycled bottles, each featuring a Red Nose twist.
Red Nose Day previously took place every other year, alternating with Sports Relief. It was announced earlier this year that it would now be an annual event, with Sports Relief becoming a year-round celebration linked with major sport events and partnerships throughout the year.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.