Comic Relief

On March 13th people will take to fundraising on the TV, in schools, in businesses and organisations big and small around the UK all in aid of Comic Relief. The charity aims to make people laugh on Red Nose Day and raise money in aid of people world-wide, spending the money raised to tackle the root causes of poverty and social injustice in the UK and across the world.

The truth is Comic Relief will help anyone with anything – whether it is mental health, provisions of utilities, rights for disabled people, education, poverty, health, or protection against domestic abuse, it doesn’t matter. On top of well documented world-wide 3rd world issues, since Comic Relief started in 1985 they have helped over 120,000 young people in the UK who have experienced sexual exploitation or trafficking. If you prefer numbers – here are some stats:

• Literacy for adults in Uganda increased to 73% by 2010
• Between 1999-2008, the number of children attending school in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 46.5 million
• The number of new infections of HIV in Africa dropped by 21% between 1997 and 2010
• Since 2000, the number of people dying from malaria across Africa has fallen by a third
• In 2012 thanks to the Time To Change campaign, 1.5 million people in England said that their attitude towards people with mental health problems had improved
• We’ve helped to establish the National Domestic Violence

Helpline, which has received over 1.5 million calls since it was set up in 2003 Comic Relief holds the Guinness World Record for the most lines connected to one telephone number – 14,368.