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Red Nose Day returned to TV screens on BBC One on Friday 17th March, with lots of tears and laughter as Comic Relief’s co-founder Sir Lenny Henry, hosted the show for the last time. He was joined by a star-studded cast, including television presenter Maya Jama and comedian Romesh Ranganathan who announced the UK Government will match fund up to £6m of the nights total, pound for pound, to support people and communities across Africa as part of its long-standing partnership with Comic Relief.
This £6million contribution from the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), will put locally- led organisations at the heart of change in their communities in Malawi, Ghana, and Zambia supporting life changing work.
Minister Mitchell, Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said: “Another year, another outstanding result. The UK public have once again proved their incredible generosity on Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. I am proud the UK Government is contributing £6 million in match funding. This support will go directly to organisations in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi, and will be used to act on the issues most important to them and their communities, including supporting women and girls, and managing the impact of climate change.”
Comic Relief has partnered with the UK Government since 2009 to jointly fund projects across sub-Saharan Africa, helping to improve the lives of over 8.5 million people.
Samir Patel, CEO, Comic Relief said: “We are thrilled to receive strong support for our international work from the UK Government. The generous £6 million funding will be invested in locally- led organisations in Malawi, Ghana and Zambia who focus on supporting women and girls, the development of young children, increasing mental health support and addressing climate change. This money will help transform communities and support some of the most vulnerable people in society making a real difference to their lives.”
This funding will support Comic Relief and FCDO’s flagship Shifting the Power programme, which aims to lead the way on building a more organic and people-led programme, that shifts power closer to communities by empowering and working with locally led organisations to create more tangible and sustainable change.
