Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day is the most famous and important way in which Comic Relief raises money. Comic Relief is a charity organisation which was founded in the UK in 1985 to help to reduce famine in Ethiopia. But now it also collects money for Africa (HIV, AIDS, helping women to read,...) and helps British people who are in need.
Comic Relief is composed of two main activities. One is called Sport Relief: sport is used to improve life. The other one is Red Nose Day. Its name comes from the red noses that are sold and that people wear. On that day, sketches are also played by famous people. The purpose of all this is to make people laugh for a good cause, i.e. winning money for the organisation. Red Nose Day first appeared in 1988. Since, this event takes place every 2 years. Its supporters are the BBC which is responsible for the live programme and Sainsbury's for example sells the red noses.
Each time the nose is different. "The big one" appeared in March 2007 and was named because of its enormous success and the big size of the nose. The BBC programme of the day included for instance "A Question of Comedy", "The Vicar of Dibley" or "Am I bovvored?"( Am I bothered?). All these were parodies of real episodes.

The global sum of the noses and donations of Red Nose Day 2007 reached £67 million. What a difference compared to £15 million raised in 1988. An important fact is that every pound is spent on charitable projects.
With the money collected the organisation wants to help young people (alcohol or mental health problems, prostitution,…), older people (loneliness, Alzheimer, age discrimination,…) refugees and so on. It also fights against domestic violence and child abuse.
The Red Nose Day is very important because it is one of the most famous charity events in the UK. Similar campaigns can be found all around the world like in Germany, Australia or Russia. On the other hand, the US has only copied the principle of Comic Relief and not of the Red Nose Day. One of their recent events was to collect money to help people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Even if Red Nose Day brings a lot of help and joy, some people criticize it. Several Catholic schools protest, because sometimes the money is used for abortions in Africa.
To conclude, its success will probably increase, because the way to get money to solve serious problems is carried out with humour and because everyone can participate.




And here you can listen to the Red Nose Day Schools' song ("Make Someone Happy") published in 2007


Coralie Laurent and Aurélie Lhoas