COMIC RELIEF 2019
Within eight weeks, helped by our funding and the local health authority, we built a medical facility with lights, birthing rooms, electricity, running water, sterile areas – the works.
This is the power of Comic Relief: Everyone pulls in the right direction and gets it done – by giving their time for free, by sticking their hand in their pocket or organising some crazy thing, we get the job done. Last week, I visited a place near Southampton called FareShare, which distributes surplus food, giving meals to vulnerable people.
I saw a food bank in the early 1990s in Uganda. I never dreamed I’d be making a film about them in the UK.
But more than 8.4million people in the UK are struggling to afford food, while more than 270 tons of good food goes to waste every year. Comic Relief funds FareShare, enabling it to redistribute more surplus food to those most in need.
With your donations and pledges, we can help to change the world.
It’s a cool thing we’ve been doing all these years. If you’re with us, we’ll keep going and, with lots of laughs, surprises, fun and a good heart, will be here for many years to come.
We partner with expert organisations, such as the British Government, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GSK, British Airways, British Telecom and Sainsbury’s.
The partnerships have helped us accelerate access to quality education, tackle malaria and harness the use of social media, tech and sport to transform lives.
Our huge thanks goes to celebrity supporters and influencers who are vital to our mission.
With everyone in comedy and entertainment rolling up their sleeves and participating, anything is possible: A University Challenge featuring Hogwarts and The Lord of the Rings, a Mastermind with Alan Partridge, an episode of The Chase where I play The Dark Destroyer, or a Casualty where the audience decide via the red button what should happen next.
Donate to Comic Relief at comicrelief.com and tune into the Red Nose Day night of TV on BBC One from 7pm tonight.