Red Nose Day will be back on Friday to provide us all with some much-needed Comic Relief.
Sir Lenny Henry will host this year’s Red Nose Day telethon as comedians, sports stars and actors come together for a night of laughs.
But the real stars of the show – now in its 36th year – are the fundraisers, who Sir Lenny believes are the “heart and soul of Red Nose Day”.
He said: “I’m in awe of each and every one of them. Every year these folks put on their creative hats and come up with ever more surprising and inventive ways to raise millions of pounds.
“They’ve made Red Nose Day what it is today.
“Everything our fundraisers do – no matter how big or small – has the power to change lives. And thanks to them, Comic Relief has helped to support 11.7 million people over the past year.
“The fundraisers make a difference and have fun doing it – and that is what makes me so proud to be a part of Comic Relief.”
Here, we meet some of the people raising money for Red Nose Day this year.
Inspired by Captain Tom
Little Willow Kilpatrick was so inspired by Sir Captain Tom Moore’s fundraising efforts that she decided to take on a similar challenge, despite not being able to walk unaided.
The five-year-old has Kabuki syndrome – a rare congenital disorder caused by a mutated gene that results in a range of disabilities.
But it didn’t stop Willow from walking three laps of her garden last spring in the hope of raising £100 for Comic Relief.
After her mum Stacey, 36, tweeted about Willow’s amazing achievement, the family raised more than £8,000 for the charity after celebrities including Miranda Hart, Davina McCall and Claudia Winkleman shared her story.
Illustrator Charlie Mackesy even sent Willow a personalised hand-drawn picture.
Stacey said: “While three laps of an average garden may seem easy for most five-year-olds, for Willow it’s the equivalent of an Ironman Triathlon!”
For Comic Relief this year, Willow, from Kent, is aiming to walk a full mile in her local park.
Stacey said the challenge will be like “climbing Everest” for the youngster, but added: “We have to do what we can to help others like Willow.”
Sniffing out new ways to help people in need
While most people collect stamps or coins, Andy Green is obsessed with buying Red Noses.
He now owns what is thought to be the biggest personal collection of the charity items in Britain.
Andy, 27, started snapping up Red Noses when he was just two years old – and in the past 25 years, he has accumulated 70 and spent £250 buying missing ones on eBay.
His precious collection is stored in a special stand he created himself using a 3D printer.
Last year, Andy raised more than £1,600 for Comic Relief by posting a selfie every day for 60 days wearing a different Red Nose.
He has even created hilarious characters for each of the noses, including Tommy who “loves to laugh, joke and play cheeky tricks on all the other noses” and Daisy, who “loves to dance and daydream about starring in the Royal Nose Ballet one day!”
Andy has also shaved his head, beard and eyebrows and waxed his chest and armpits to raise money for charity.
He said: “There may be other people who haven’t gone public to say they own every single Red Nose, but I think as far as I know, I have the biggest collection in the country.
“As a kid I didn’t always take good care of the noses so now I am really proud of my collection and make sure they’re stored properly.”
It wasn’t until 2013 that Andy, from Putney, South West London, started to gather the Red Noses he’d collected as a child together and source missing ones online.
His collection now boasts everything from the very first Red Nose in 1988 to a rare 2019 Green Nose, which he bought as part of a 12-pack bundle.
Andy’s personal favourite, however, is the 2005 nose because of its multi-coloured elastic hair.
He said: “It was always my favourite one when I was a kid so I was really chuffed when I managed to find it on eBay and I’ve now got about six of them.”
This year Andy, who works as a Service Desk Analyst for Nando’s, is planning to host a raffle and a quiz at work to raise more money for Comic Relief.
He will also star in a new comedy sketch alongside Sir Lenny Henry and Dame Joanna Lumley and has featured in Comic Relief’s promotional posters, which he describes as “incredibly exciting”.
Andy is motivated by the power of laughter and said: “If you can get people laughing, I think it makes people have a better day.
“I like to think I put others first, and this is another way of giving back.
“I would have been really chuffed to raise £100 last year, so it’s amazing to have raised as much as I did.”
Andy is keen to broaden his Red Nose collection and regularly hunts them down on eBay.
Last month, he bought a full display box of 2022’s Red Noses just to ensure he had the full set.
He said: “Anything I can do to help raise money and awareness for Comic Relief is important."
Cooking to help fuel change
Entrepreneurial Tallulah, 10, has raised more than £1,000 for charity by setting up her own brownie business.
Tallulah first came up with the idea four years ago after watching Comic Relief and wanting to help people in need.
She started off selling eggs from the family chickens out of a wooden “Shed Shop” set up outside her house.
Then the youngster started using the eggs to make salted caramel brownies with a “top secret family recipe”.
Tallulah, from the Isle of Wight, also sells homemade recipe cards in a bid to inspire other people to bake their own treats.
As well the Shed Shop, Tallulah’s brownies are sold at a local bike store, the village shop and a leisure centre.
She said: “I would tell any other children thinking about fundraising to be brave and don’t hold back.
“The challenge can be so much fun, and it is really nice to help Comic Relief.”
Encouraging others to fulfil their potential
In 2017, Rae Saleem became paralysed from the neck down following a cycling accident.
The dad-of-three had clipped a kerb and landed on the pavement face first.
Medics at the Royal London Hospital Major Trauma Unit told Rae, 46, that he would never walk again.
But after months of intense rehabilitation, which Rae likened to “a Rocky movie training camp”, he got back on his feet and has never looked back.
Last year, he ran the equivalent of two marathons in 48 hours for Comic Relief.
And this year, Rae will be doing a gym-based quadrathlon at his local leisure centre, where he completed most of rehab.
He will row 10,000m, travel the same distance on a cross-climber, cycle 90km on a stationary bike and run a half-marathon on a treadmill.
He’s also encouraging others to get involved by running a series of exercise classes, with all proceeds going to charity.
Rae, of Potters Bar, Herts, said: “The four challenges represent the four key areas Comic Relief works to tackle – homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health problems and poverty.
“I just want to help and inspire others, especially people with spinal injuries, to reach their potential.”
