BT has announced that it will donate 1p for every call made using a BT landline or payphone as part of 'Chat for Change' day on Friday 18 February.

The event will kickstart fundraising for the BT Red Nose Desert Trek, in which several celebrities will cross the Kaisut desert in Kenya.

BT will also donate 25p for every call made to its directory enquiry service from any landline or mobile phone to raise money for Comic Relief. 

Last year BT held a ‘Chat for Change’ day to raise money for the celebrity cyclists taking part in Sport Relief which raised £250,000.  In 2008 the BT Kilimanjaro climb raised £3.5m.

John Hurry, the commercial director, consumer, at BT said:  “We are delighted to be part of such a worthwhile cause and we urge everyone to do their bit by picking up the phone this Friday.”

To encourage people to get involved, BT is asking, “Who gets your joke” and suggesting people phone friends to tell them their funniest joke.

Through the BT ‘Chat for Change’ Facebook page users can update their status and profile picture with the pledge and logo as well as view videos about the campaign featuring some of the celebrities taking part in the trek.

‘Chat for Change’ day was planned to coinicide with the arrival in Kenya of the celebrities taking part in the trek as they prepare for the five-day physical challenge of crossing the Kaisut desert.

The team of celebrities includes Ronni Ancona, Craig David, Lorraine Kelly, Scott Mills, Olly Murs, Dermot O’Leary, Nadia Sawalha, Kara Tointon and Peter White who are all getting ready to face one of the most inhospitable places on earth to raise money for Comic Relief and highlight the issue of sight loss.

Comic Relief supports projects in Africa and the UK including those which help prevent thousands of people in Africa from going blind or contracting eye conditions.

A documentary charting the celebrities’ journey will be broadcast in the run-up to Red Nose Day, which takes place on 18 March, when the public will be asked to ‘Do something funny for money’.

BT will also be supporting Comic Relief on the night, as it has done since 1985, by providing call centres, online support and volunteers to enable the charity to take millions of pounds in pledges on the night.