Red Nose Day 2023 raises £31,952,141 on the night
Howard Lake | 20 March 2023 | News
BBC One has announced that the total raised during the Red Nose Day live broadcast on Friday evening was £31,952,141.
The money raised will help people experiencing homelessness, mental health problems and food poverty. It will also be used to support people facing a hunger crisis across East Africa, and those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
The celebrity-led night of entertainment featured a range of artists performing live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Salford. Comedy sketches, live music and money-can’t-buy prizes combined with moving films to show the live-changing power of donations. And children’s TV show Blue Peter even became Red Peter for one day only to celebrate Red Nose Day.
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The evening was presented by AJ Odudu, David Tennant, Joel Dommett, Paddy McGuinness, and Zoe Ball.
AJ Odudu said: “Wow, what an amazing night! It’s been an absolute joy to be here and be part of such a special evening dedicated to raising money for so many important causes. Thank you so much to all of the incredible people at home for donating.”
The Traitors
Claudia Winkleman, Dame Mary Berry, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders gathered around The Traitors Round Table for the ultimate game of deception, as Claudia Winkleman met… Claudia Winkleman.
Hidden underneath the cloaks, Ewan McGregor, Alison Hammond, Big Zuu, Rosie Jones, Danny Dyer, Anne Robinson and Stephen Merchant, plus Maddy and Wilf from the show itself were on hand to banish the true Traitor.
Eurovision – The Leaked Audition Tapes
The evening included a sketch which “revealed some of the previously unseen footage” of those vying for Mae Muller’s place as the UK’s Eurovision 2023 entrant.
Jamie Dornan, Miranda and Bono tried to impress a panel of Eurovision judges including Graham Norton, Lulu and Sam Ryder, all aiming for douze points, with varying levels of success.
Stath Lets Flats
Viewers also saw Dermot O’Leary take a trip to Michael & Eagle Lettings to visit Jamie Demetriou‘s ‘Stath’ from Stath Lets Flats with X Factor’s Honey G, Stevi Ritchie, Ben Haenow and Andy Abrahams; as well as musical performances from Zara Larsson and Tom Grennan.
More highlights
Other highlights in the three-hour fundraising event included:
- the return of BBC sitcom Ghosts, with a special for Red Nose Day – featuring Kylie Minogue
- a romantic trip to the Love Island hideaway with Maya Jama, Iain Stirling and the surprise guest Chabuddy G;
- the return of one of Baldrick in his very own ‘Blackadder’ Bedtime Story.
Prizes
Viewers also had the chance to get their hands on a series of prizes.
- Eurovision fans could aim for two tickets to the sold-out Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final in Liverpool.
- Chris Evans’ CarFest had donated a 2009 Jaguar X-Type Estate previously owned and driven by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The films
Viewers saw Prince William meet people from a homelessness charity supported by Comic Relief to talk about the realities of homelessness that affect so many people in the UK.
A film fronted by Sir Lenny Henry drew attention to the hunger crisis currently sweeping across East Africa and looks back to the early years of Comic Relief when Lenny first visited the region in 1988.
Viewers also saw Rosie Jones talk about living with cerebral palsy and introduce a project that is helping children with disabilities in Kenya.
Sir Mo Farah shared his remarkable story to shine a light on the 12 million children around the world who are victims of modern slavery.
David Tennant said:
“Red Nose Day holds such a special place in my heart and It’s always such an honour to be involved. People all over the world truly are facing the toughest times of their lives – we’ve seen it tonight – but your generosity and kindness can make all the difference.
Seeing people across the country get involved to do and give whatever they can, whilst facing really difficult times at home, is just extraordinary. We hope we’ve given you all a good laugh tonight and you’re ending this fantastic evening knowing how amazing you are. We’re so grateful for everything.”
Fundraising challenges
This year’s Red Nose Day campaign also included challenge and endurance events by many entertainers and presenters.
- BBC Radio 1 DJ Arielle Free cycled for 50 hours over five days, across five cities, all whilst DJing live, in her ‘Tour De Dance’ challenge for Red Nose Day. She and her hefty 10-person bike crossed the finish line in Liverpool, have raised incredible £591,186.
- Gethin Jones kept on dancing for 24 hours in a disco, dance, and pop-packed effort which raised £1,192,298.
- Emma Willis, Oti Mabuse and Rylan struggled up to the summit of Cairn Gorm through challenging weather and and freezing temperatures. You can watch Emma, Oti and Rylan’s Big Red Nose Day Challenge to see how they raised £501,726.
Many members of the public of course set themselves fundraising challenges, including long-term Comic Relief supporter Rae Saleem and 30 of his friends taking on a Monopoly-inspired running challenge in London, and 600 members of the Rock Choir taking to the streets of Birmingham with musical flash mobs.
Corporate partnerships
TK Maxx launched a collection of colourful T-shirts, sweatshirts, accessories, and homeware for Red Nose Day 2023, featuring the iconic Mr. Men Little Miss character designs.
Comic Relief’s iconic Red Nose went through a substantial redesign with the help of designer Sir Jony Ive. Made almost entirely from plant-based materials, the Red Nose starts as a tiny, flat crescent and springs into a beautiful honeycomb-paper sphere. It is still available to buy on Amazon, now presented by Comic Relief as “the new home of the Red Nose”.
This year saw the first The Red Nose That Grows with Homebase. The 100%-compostable Red Nose Wildflower Seedbom™ biodegrades into the environment and transforms into beautiful wildflowers that attract either bees or butterflies.
This year’s partnerships between Comic Relief and commercial, statutory and grantmaking organisations consisted of:
| Partner | Contribution |
| The Sainsbury’s Group | £5,419,170.33 |
| Amazon | £2,710,504.00 |
| TK Maxx & Homesense | £1,800,309.00 |
| British Airways | £1,076,946.00 |
| The KFC Foundation | £828,500.16 |
| Homebase | £115,230.00 |
| MALTESERS® | £500,000.00 |
| Babybel | £150,000.00 |
| TikTok | £500,000.00 |
| The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) | £6,000,000.00 |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) | £131,027.00 |
| The Scottish Government | £191,666.00 |
| People’s Postcode Lottery | £1,000,000.00 |
| City Bridge Trust | £719,000.00 |
| Oak Foundation | £100,000.00 |
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | £75,000.00 |
| Esmee Fairbairn Foundation | £95,000.00 |
Samir Patel, CEO, Comic Relief said:
“This evening we are feeling incredibly proud of what the British public have been able to achieve together. There is no doubting that this is a deeply troubling time for millions of people across the nation, so we’re truly humbled by the willingness to dig deep and donate. The biggest of thank yous goes to everyone who has supported this Red Nose Day. You’ve helped to lift spirits, spread kindness, and raise millions of pounds that will make more life changing work possible, right here in the UK and around the world.”
You can still donate to Red Nose Day at comicrelief.com/donate
- Red Nose Day takes £42.8 million on the appeal night (21 March 2022)
- Facebook supports Red Nose Day 2019 with £1 million matched giving fund (8 March 2019)
- Youth Endowment Fund and Comic Relief open £10mn fund (27 September 2021)
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.