A Record Breaking Red Nose Night Total...
14th March 2009
As the mammoth seven hour Red Nose Day TV show, Comic Relief – Relief Funny for Money, came to a close in the early hours of Saturday morning, a record breaking £57,809,938 was announced as the incredible RND ’09 fundraising total… so far!
Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of Comic Relief, Richard Curtis said, ‘It is just incredible to see such a huge amount of money given by the public again on Red Nose Day. Red Nose Day is 21 years old this year and its success is down to the unrelenting support and ingenuity of our supporters – it belongs not to the comedians, but to the people who give. It’s wonderful that, in more difficult times, people seem to understand that the need increases for people whose lives were impossibly tough in the first place. The work this money funds helps change and save lives all over Africa and the United Kingdom. A huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped to make this year’s Red Nose Day such a memorable and brilliant campaign.”
The total was announced after another spectacular evening of entertainment came straight to the nation’s tellys on Friday night where comedy greats, entertainment stars and the wonderful public all joined forces to Do Something Funny for Money to support the 12th Red Nose Day.
David Tennant, Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr, Graham Norton, Fern Britton, Davina McCall, Claudia Winkleman and Matt Corden & James Horne boldly went where many presenters never dare to go! Shamelessly rallying the troops into action, this fine bevy of British talent led us through the night with great aplomb and humour.
Ronnie Corbett gave a fart-tastic performance as an alien in the special one-off Comic Relief Sarah Jane Adventures special! Armstrong & Miller and Mitchell & Webb confused proceedings by trespassing onto one another’s clip shows whilst Paul Whitehouse & Harry Enfield were transported back to a Victorian edition of Dragons Den… and became the Dragons!
Ricky Gervais, Little Britain with Robbie Williams and Catherine Tate, and Gavin and Stacey’s Smithy brought tears of laughter to the nation’s eyes with their hilarious sketches. It was also a night of final farewells, with French & Saunders saying goodbye through some brilliant star studded Mamma Mia sketches which featured Sienna Millar and Matt Lucas as guest stars.
Celebrity climbers Alesha Dixon, Ben Shephard, Cheryl Cole, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen, Fearne Cotton, Gary Barlow, Kimberley Walsh and Ronan Keating took to the stage. Not only did they endure days of gruelling physical torture to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro but they raised a whopping £3,326,142 for Comic Relief in the process – which was revealed to them live on the show!
Gary Barlow then joined fellow Take That band members to give a poignant performance of The Garden, which was preceded by an emotional appeal film fronted by Denise Van Outen – this segment brought donations to a peak.
Other music acts included Annie Lennox who performed an incredible version of ‘Lean on Me’ which contributed to a bumper night for music, with the biggest bands in the world performing.
Viewers even saw the amazing return of Top Of The Pops, especially for Comic Relief, which provided the entertainment for the half hour switchover show on BBC2. Hosts Fearne Cotton & Reggie Yates presented some of the worlds biggest bands in this incredible musical feast – Oasis, U2, Franz Ferdinand, James Morrison, Take That and Flo Rida accompanied by impromptu dancing by Dawn French, Davina McCall and Claudia Winkleman.
How can we not give a slap on the back to those special Apprentices?! Big congratulations to the girls team on winning with an inspired product! Oh yes, the final of Comic Relief does The Apprentice was a corker!
The breathtaking and overwhelming total goes to show that even in this economic slump and time of belt tightening, the great British public has still found a way to dig deep and give to those less fortunate than themselves.
We’re, quite simply, blown away by all your incredible generosity - a massive thank you to everyone who donated or gave their time to Do Something Funny for Money this Red Nose Day – we really couldn’t do what we do without you.
If you’d still like to make a donation – it’s not too late. You can make a donation here.
And if you brilliantly raised Red Nose Day cash – remember to pay it in here!
Thank you!
