Comic Relief’s total over 30 years passes £1 billion mark
Howard Lake | 16 March 2015 | News
The fifteenth Red Nose Day raised £78,082,988 on Friday night, bringing the total raised through Red Nose Day and Sport Relief over the past 30 years to over £1 billion. The total stands at £1,047, 083,706.
The money raised since 1985 has helped over 50 million people in the UK and across the world’s poorest communities.
Comic Relief’s total fundraising passes £1 billion mark in 2015.
Richard Curtis, founder and vice chair of Comic Relief, said:
“This is a very strange moment for me. When a bunch of comedians got together all those years ago we dreamed of raising a million or two, and never imagined the generosity that would be shown by the British public for so many years. Figures tell us that the billion pounds have helped around 50 million people in the UK and overseas, 50 million people whose lives have been changed or saved by the generosity of people they’ve never met.
“It’s an extraordinary thing that we do in Britain and I’m enormously proud to be part of it. Our thanks to every single person who has ever done their bit over the last 30 years – both the funny and the money.”
The record-breaking total of over £78 million raised on the night of Red Nose Day 2015.
Comic Relief – Face the Funny
The red nose has remained the campaign’s iconic image. This year’s total includes £11,521,278 raised by Sainsbury’s. As well as sales of red noses, this total was generated through sales of other official Red Nose Day merchandise, donations on grocery products, and from fundraising by Sainsbury’s staff across the country.
This year saw the addition of 12 Golden Noses which gave the public the opportunity to win a once in a lifetime prize.
Comic Relief 2015 raised funds by selling a Nose in a Bag.
During the live TV show BT handled 230,000 calls to the donation line, peaking at 84 donations per second.
TK Maxx and HomeSense raised £4,064,106 through the sale of their 2015 Red Nose Day T-shirt range, designed by Anya Hindmarch, Karl Lagerfeld, Diane Von Furstenberg, Henry Holland and Matthew Williamson. The total was boosted by sales of their Henry Holland designed homeware collection and special notebooks, a variety of in-store fundraising, till donations and a charity auction.
Comic Relief 2015 presenters and celebrities.
British Airways added £2,450,787 to the Red Nose Day total through a mixture of on-board collections and staff fundraising. They also gave their famous 1989 ‘Face’ advert a special lift after Darcey Bussell expertly choreographed hundreds of BA volunteers to form the 25-metre wide face, complete
with a Red Nose.
Dermot O’Leary raised £643,336 through his 24 hour Day of Dance, finishing live in the London Palladium at the start of the live show on BBC1.
Dermot O’Leary prepares for his 24-hour danceathon for Red Nose Day 2015
Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, which took over Manchester Arena last month, raised £5,031,146.47 for Comic Relief, the most money raised by a live comedy show in the world.
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Matched giving and funding
The UK Government is matching the money raised by UK schools for this year’s Red Nose Day up to £10million. Comic Relief will spend this money specifically on helping to get children across Africa into education and learning.
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust granted £4 million to this year’s campaign.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.