Red Nose Day

Humour can do good as well as lighten life.

Comic Relief is a British charity organisation that was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis in response to famine in Ethiopia. It now raises money for countries in Africa and for disadvantaged people in the UK. It was launched live on Noel Edmonds's Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1, on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan. The idea for Comic Relief came from the noted charity worker Jane Tewson, then head of a British NGO Charity Projects and was inspired by the success of the first four Secret Policeman's Ball comedy benefit shows for Amnesty International (1976-1981). Initially funds were raised from live events, the most notable being a comedy revue at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London which was subsequently broadcast on television on 25 April 1986.
One of the fundamental principles behind working at Comic Relief is the 'Golden Pound Principle' where every single donated pound is spent on charitable projects. All operating costs, such as staff salaries, are covered by corporate sponsors or interest which is earned while money raised is waiting to be spent (granted) to charitable projects.
Currently, its two main supporters are the BBC and Sainsbury's. The latter sells merchandise on behalf of the charity.

Red Nose Day is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. It is held in the spring every other year and is often treated as a semi-holiday, with, for example, schools having non-uniform days. The day culminates in a live television event on BBC1 starting in the evening and going through into the early hours of the morning, but other money-raising events take place. As the name suggests, the day involves the wearing of plastic/foam red noses which are available, in exchange for a donation, from many shops.
The first "Red Nose Day" was on 5 February 1988, and raised £15 million. The TV show was hosted by Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones and Jonathan Ross. More than £300 million has so far been distributed to projects by Comic Relief.
Red Nose Day was also copied in other countries. One of note was New Zealand, which actually introduced a brief fad in 1990 of selling over-sized red-noses for car grilles for charity.

The next Red Nose Day is scheduled to be held on 16 March 2007. Its tagline is "The Big One" which is also representative of the novelty nose. As well as Sainsburys, Walkers, Kleenex and Andrex are promoting the charity.
It is known that one of the shows appearing on the night will be The Vicar of Dibley. Also intended to be shown was A Question of Comedy, a comedy quiz utilizing the format (and set) of A Question of Sport, and hosted by Jack Dee, with team captains Frank Skinner and Dara O'Briain, and guests including Jade Goody. However, in light of Big Brother events involving Jade and racism, the pre-recorded segment has been scrapped by BBC producers. A third series of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy is currently ongoing and a celebrity version of the Apprentice entitled Comic Relief Does The Apprentice will also be screened. Also a special "Top Gear of the Pops" will be shown on BBC Two when the news is on BBC One. It will feature its presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May singing with Justin Hawkins, as well as Top Gear segments such as The Cool Wall.
The official single for Red Nose Day 2007 is 'Walk This Way' sung by Girls Aloud and Sugababes (Girls Aloud vs. Sugababes) - A cover of Run-DMC and Aerosmith's version of the song.

The most prominent symbol of Comic Relief is a rubber red nose which is given in various supermarkets in exchange for a donation to the charity. People are encouraged to wear the noses on Red Nose Day to help raise awareness of the charity. The design of the nose has been changed each year, beginning with a fairly plain one, which later grew arms, turned into a tomato and even changed colour. In 2007, the red nose was made of foam; this was to facilitate the "growing" of the nose (by rolling it in the user's hands) to keep in line with that year's tagline, The Big One.