Over £73m raised for Red Nose Day so far

27 Mar 2017 News

Comic Relief has said that it has raised over £73m from last week’s Red Nose Day telethon, with more donations set to come in over the coming days.

In a statement on the Comic Relief website, it confirmed that the public have so far managed to raise £73.026m, money which “will now be put to work, transforming lives across the UK and the world’s poorest communities”. 

In 2015 the on-the-night total was £78m. 

The Red Nose Day telethon was held in London on Friday, and one of the biggest donations of the night came from Sainsbury’s which raised £11.6m, which Comic Relief said was: “the biggest ever cheque from a business” to the charity.

Other large, corporate donations on the night included £4m from TK Maxx and £3m from British Airways.

BBC Radio2 presenter Sara Cox also raised £1.1m by conducting a 24-hour danceathon.

Comic Relief said that, at its peak, the Red Nose Day night of television on BBC One and Two peaked at 7.6 million viewers.

Speaking about the event, Lenny Henry, co-founder of Comic Relief, said: “Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has helped to raise an incredible amount of money this Red Nose Day for people who really need it most here in the UK and across the world.

“From the fantastic people across the UK who baked cakes, hosted parties and wore crazy outfits to work and school, to those who took on Red Nose Day challenges and donated, your money is seriously going to change lives. On behalf of everyone at Comic Relief, we cannot thank you enough.”

 

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