One of the charity world’s biggest events of the year takes place tonight: the biennial festival of silliness that is Red Nose Day for Comic Relief. In 2007 £40m was raised, and the organizers are bravely hoping that today that target will be beaten, despite the ongoing financial doom and gloom.

The build-up to the event has been as excitable as ever. Tonight’s line-up will apparently include Dawn French in a comedy version of Mamma Mia and Robbie Williams dressed up as a little girl. Comedians, musicians, and BBC TV shows will all be getting into the spirit.

A centrepiece of this year’s efforts has been a troupe of celebrities climbing Kilimanjaro, during which they suffered from altitude sickness, aches and pains, and sleepless nights. (According to Chris Moyles, they spent “a week in hell” – a remark that some of Comic Relief’s beneficiaries might find interestingly phrased.) As a reward, they met the Prime Minister, who hailed them as “heroes”. The PM’s spokesman had earlier winked at the suggestion that Gordon might even wear a red nose to mark the occasion. (He didn’t.)

OK, so it’s easy to sneer at Comic Relief. But we’d rather not, and here’s why.

1. By our reckoning, they’re not half bad. Last year we gave them a Quality of Reporting score of 76%, and although their latest report isn’t quite up to that level (profile update forthcoming shortly), they’ve historically done a good job of being open and honest with donors. This makes them a darn sight better than other silly events like those run by Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, or other celebrity-backed outfits like the Variety Club. They’ve even led in the past when other telethons like Children in Need have been losing their way.
2. It’s a relief to have a laugh while giving money. For obvious reasons, lots of charities try to fundraise via moral outrage, and regardless of how effective that may be, it certainly doesn’t lift your spirits. Spending an evening watching NSPCC adverts, for example, would leave you unsure as to whether to escape the crushing guilt of complacency by giving them money or by hiding under a rock to make the bad things go away. Comic Relief gives us fun with its shocks, and as a result manages to capture both the generosity of happy people and the purposefulness of the outraged.
3. It benefits the whole charity sector. Apparently, after Red Nose Day all charitable giving goes up in a sort of a warm afterglow effect. The sector could really do with some of that right now.
4. It’s good for the nation. Despite losing squillions on the stock market and facing down the worst depression of our lifetimes, etc, at least we can all still come together and give to charity. Comic Relief makes us feel normal again, and reminds us that there are other countries out there where people are considerably worse off.

So even if it is all a bit corny, the IG team will probably find itself settling down tonight in front of the telly with a cup of tea and the telephone close to hand, just like everyone else. Davina McCall versus David Tennant on Celebrity Mastermind? Secretly, we can’t wait.
 

 

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