Everything you need to know about Red Nose Day – what is it and when is it celebrated?

For the past 34 years, March has been synonymous with Red Nose Day, a joyful fundraising effort raising millions to fight poverty around the world. 

This year’s edition of Red Nose Day will take place on Friday 17 March, and millions of people will be expected to take part through various challenges and donation appeals throughout a live telethon on the BBC. 

The slogan of the campaign, which was created by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry’s Comic Relief in 1988, is ‘Do something funny for money.’ 

Several celebs have taken part in the Red Nose Day charity appeal over the years, taking on all types of challenges to raise funds, such as Emma Willis, Oti Mabuse and Rylan Clark, who reached the summit of Cairn Gorm Mountain to fundraise for the event. 

Others have also taken part in Red Nose Days specials of popular movies or shows, like Red Nose Day Actually, which reunited the original cast of Love Actually in 2007, and One Red Nose Day and a Wedding in 2019, after the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. 

What is Red Nose Day?

Red Nose Day was first introduced in 1988 by Curtis and Henry, three years after they founded Comic Relief. 

The crux of the campaign is a telethon broadcast live on the BBC to appeal for funds, with high profile celebrities taking part. 

The money raised through Red Nose Day goes to several charities dedicated to helping those living in poverty around the world.  

The first Comic Relief fundraising event, which broadcast live from Shaftsbury Theatre in London, featured countless artists and comedians, including Lenny Henry himself, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Kate Bush, among others. 

In 1988, Lenny Henry hosted the first live Red Noes Day telethon from Ethiopia, with 150 celebrities and comedians participating. The event, which raised £15million in funds, then would take every other year. 

Benedict Cumberbatch swam in cold water for Mental Health programmes in the lead up to Red Nose Day in 2019

Due to its popularity, Red Nose Day became a yearly occurrence, and is a high profile TV event, watched religiously by millions across the country and worldwide. 

Charity challenges are also completed ahead of the televised events in order to raise more funds.  

Where does the money go? 

Comic Relief operates under the ‘Golden Pound’ principle, which means that the entirety of the money that gets donated is put toward charitable projects while the charity’s operating costs are funded by sponsors. 

Some of the Red Nose Day sponsors include the BBC, which is responsible for broadcasting the telethon each year, Sainsbury’s who sells the appeal’s merchandise, and BT, who handles the telephony of the event. 

In 2022, Red Nose Day fundraised nearly £42.8million pounds, and in total, the appeal has raised £1,068,416,012 between 1988 and 2022. 

The most successful Red Nose Day appeal ever took place in 2013, where Comic Relief raised £100.3 million thanks to the event. 

Andie McDowell and Hugh Grant reprised their roles as Carrie and Charles in a spoof sequel of Four Weddings and a Funeral in 2019 

A board of 20 experts decides exactly what the money will be spent on. They carefully consider every grant before it is agreed on. The board is made up of the Comic Relief grants staff, grants committees and the charity’s trustees.

Some specific projects in Africa who have been helped by Comic Relief include Save the Children Fund for their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan helping ex-child soldiers rebuild their lives.

Other initiatives include a youth centre in Tanzania that helps kids whose lives have been ruined by the impact of Aids and HIV on their families.

Which celebs have taken part in Red Nose Day?

The Red Nose Day Appeal has always involved the participation of celebrities and comedians to further the fundraising efforts. 

Actors, singers and other performers have all gotten involved with the appeal in different ways; some have taken part in special challenges ahead of the televised donations appeal. 

In 2021, BBC Radio 1 presenter Jordan North rowed from London to Burnley for a 100-mile river challenge. 

Meanwhile, Olympic diver Tom Daley also rowed, swam, cycled and ran for his own challenge. 

The appeal has also been famous for generating spoofs of beloved shows and movies over the years. 

In 2017, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Nighty and Martine McCutcheon all reprised their roles from the 2003 Christmas Hit Love Actually for a short sequel titled Red Nose Day Actually. 

In 2019, it was the turn of Four Weddings and a Funeral to get the charity treatment, with Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell and other members of the original cast returning to their role, this time attending their daughter’s wedding, played by Lily James. 

The spoof, called One Red Nose Day and a Wedding, was watched by 5.6 million people.

Other parodies include a Doctor Who special starring Rowan Atkinson in 1999 and penned by Steven Moffat.

Rowan Atkinson has been a long-time supporter of the appeal since its early days in 1988, only missing a few events in Red Nose Day’s 34 years of existence.  

Emma Willis, Rylan Clark and Oti Mabuse have braved the elements to climb to the summit of Cairn Gorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands, all for charity

Dawn French, who also took part in several editions of Red Nose Day starred in countless of these parodies over the years, from a Harry Potter version in 2003, titled Harry Potter and the Chamber Pot of Azerbaijan, to Mamma Mia in 2007. 

Singers have also gotten involved over the years; the live TV show often includes performances from popular singers, with the release of a charity single.

In 1997, the Spice Girls’ song Who Do You Think You Are? became the official Comic Relief single, selling 672,577 copies with some of the proceeds going to Red Nose Day. 

In 1999, Boyzone’s single When Things Get Tough was the event’s charity single.  In 2013, One Direction recorded One Way or Another, which became that year’s official single.

McFly, The Saturdays, Hale & Pace and Victoria Wood have also performed singles for Red Nose Day. 

How can you get involved?

People who wish to take part in the Red Nose Day charity initiative can either donate on the Comic Relief website, or help raise funds by signing up for activities and setting up crowdfunding pages online. 

Another way to donate is to buy the charity’s merchandise, which is available at several retailers. 

The charity’s red nose, which has been its main merchandise item since its creation, is available to buy on its online shop for £2.50. 

The design of the red nose changes every year so that people keep buying it. The 2023 model was exclusively designed by Sir Jony Ive, designer of the iPhone and all things Apple. 

The charity has also partnered with the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand and TK Maxx to create t-shirts, tote bags and other merchandise.

Celebrities including Amada Holden, Hugh Bonneville and Martin Freeman modelled the collection to encourage customers to fork out. 

TK Maxx has pledged that at least £5 from the sale of every adult T-shirt and at least £2.50 from the sale of every kids’ T-shirt will go to Comic Relief. 

What is in store for Red Nose Day 2023?

The live telethon is set to take place on Friday 17 March on BBC One, hosted by AJ Odudu and Joel Dommett, alongside Zoe Ball, Paddy McGuiness and David Tennant.

Kylie Minogue is expected to appear in a parody of the TV show Ghosts and a spoof of Love Island. 

A celebrity special of the smash hit prize competition Traitors is also planned to go ahead during the broadcast. 

And Sam Ryder, who was the UK’s Eurovision entry in 2022 and nearly won the competition, will also star in a sketch with Graham Norton.

The Prince of Wales, 41, has worked with charity Groundswell, which is funded by Comic Relief, on a short film which will be broadcast as part of the annual fundraising appeal on Friday. 

The Prince of Wales, 41, has worked with charity Groundswell, which is funded by Comic Relief , on a short film which will be broadcast as part of the annual fundraising appeal on Friday

In the thought-provoking programme, which will air on BBC One and will be available on iPlayer, the royal sat down with Nawshin and Miles, who have both experienced homelessness first-hand as they recorded a podcast as part of Groundswell’s Listen Up! project. 

Some challenges have already taken place ahead of the broadcast in order to raise more funds. 

Emma Willis, Rylan Clark and Oti Mabuse have braved the elements to climb to the summit of Cairn Gorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands, all for charity.

The expedition aired on the BBC on 14 March, and saw Emma, Oti and Rylan take on wild camping, and – equipped with ice axes and crampons – battle the ever-changing elements to summit Cairn Gorm Mountain.

The trio spent three days and two nights hiking over the brutal landscape of the Cairn Gorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands, immersed in a vast wintery landscape with no roads and little shelter.