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Rae Saleem has been awarded the inaugural Lenny Award, established to honour Comic Relief’s founding member and honorary life president Sir Lenny Henry
Ex-Gladiator Weininger Irwin, Banstead Community Junior School, Buskerteers Choir and brothers Sami (aged 8) and Rafi (aged 13) have all been recognised as heroic fundraisers in The Nosey Awards 2024
Collectively The Nosey Award winners have raised over £70,000 since 2021 Over £40 million was raised on Red Nose Day, which returned on 15 March 2024
Money raised could help to put food on plates and roofs over heads, keep little ones safe and help support families affected by conflict and climate change
For more information, visit www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday/fundraise/awards/
Friday 19 April: For fundraisers, Comic Relief’s The Nosey Awards are akin to glossy Hollywood accolades such as The Oscars and Grammys, they celebrate the fantastic schools, groups, and individuals that raise life-changing amounts of money for Red Nose Day. With over £40 million raised for Red Nose Day this year, the winners of this year's The Nosey Awards have been revealed.
Spanning five categories, the winners include an ex-Gladiator, junior school, choir, endurance enthusiast and inspiring sibling duo. Collectively, the recipients have raised in excess of £70,0001 since 2021, an extraordinary effort that shows going the extra mile really can help change the lives of those in need.
The Lenny - Rae Saleem has been awarded the inaugural Lenny Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication and commitment to fundraising for Red Nose Day. His remarkable story impressed the panel of judges, including Sir Lenny Henry, and saw him take home the most coveted of Nosey Awards.
Despite facing significant challenges, Rae has demonstrated unwavering dedication to give back to his community and support those in need. Six years ago, he faced a life-altering accident that left him paralysed from the neck down, along with brain damage. However, Rae defied the odds, embarking on a journey of recovery and overcoming not only physical challenges but also financial hardship and mental health struggles.
These personal challenges, however, did not deter Rae to give back to others facing similar struggles. His fundraising efforts spanned gruelling physical endurance challenges to community-wide events, Rae has continuously gone above and beyond to raise vital funds for those in need. Last year, he raised over £4,000 with a double weekend event comprising a Les Mills Body Combat-athon and the 17 mile London Monopoly Run which saw him gather the community and run to every London location featured in the popular board game. In 2021 he took on the 4x4x48 endurance challenge, running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours and in 2022 he organised his first multi-disciplined 4-hour group fitness event, then rowed, ran, cycled and cross-trained 82 miles the following day encouraging the community to join him.
The momentous challenges don’t stop there. This year, Rae climbed onto the saddle at his local gym to start an epic community 12-hour Spin-athon with over 60 participants to raise funds for this year’s Red Nose Day. He surpassed his initial £2,500 target, raising over £4,000 which brings his total raised for Comic Relief over the years to over £11,000!
Class Act – Banstead Community Junior School has been fundraising for Red Nose Day since 2009, creating activities that include staff and pupils – raising an outstanding £14,000 for Comic Relief to date!
The school’s activities have encapsulated ‘Do Something Funny for Money’ seeing them recognised as Class Act. From a Chopstick Jelly Eating Contest, covering teachers in slime, staff rapping, the Big Copper Challenge (racing to create the longest line of 1p and 2p coins), to 15 brave teachers volunteering to run through 300 pupils armed with powdered paint. Banstead Community Junior School’s efforts put the fun in fundraising and are certain to provide inspiration to other schools across the UK.
Rising Star – Brothers Sami (aged 8) and Rafi (aged 13) love a challenge, starting their fundraising commitment in 2021 both pledging to walk 20 miles to raise money for Red Nose Day. Sami was just five at the time and dared himself to walk one or two miles every day to reach his target, whereas his brother Rafi, then aged 10, walked over 20 miles in one day!
Since then, the challenges have become more difficult with the duo completing 30- and 50-mile triathlons as well as cycling challenges. This year, they ventured outside of their fitness comfort zone and instead toured residential homes with their comedy and music act in a bid to spread a ‘Comic Relief Smile’ within their local community. Since 2021, the duo has raised close to £3,000 for good causes – it’s clear that they’re more than deserving of the Rising Star accolade.
Solo Superstar – Ex-Gladiator Champion Weininger Irwin has spearheaded fundraising efforts for his community and even celebrated his 60th birthday whilst undertaking a 24-hour row-a-thon, raising over £4,000 for Red Nose Day. His inspiring efforts have awarded him the Solo Superstar award.
Weininger’s money-raising stunts have continued to get bigger and better. From taking indoor rowing machines on the London Underground, embarking on the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Shenfield, stopping at stations and rowing over 62km, to a two-hour row-a-thon with school children and an attempt to beat the record for the biggest soul line dance to live music by Junior Giscombe. Weininger encapsulates the meaning of Red Nose Day, bringing people of all ages together, from school children to his Ageless Teenagers – a community group he set up to for the over 60’s, to raise money and help make a serious difference. To date, Weininger’s initiatives have raised more than £5,000 for Comic Relief.
Dream Team – The Essex based Buskerteers Choir was created by Andrew Small with a vision of busking and raising money for charity, they’re on a mission to raise £1 million for charitable causes.
As part of their fundraising for Red Nose Day, the group has undertaken a variety of wacky choral activities from recording a special of Queen’s ‘I Want to Break Free’ during lockdown in 2021, to taking over a supermarket with 200 choristers singing Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ whilst dressed as the legendary country singer.
This year, the choir has gone bigger and better, doubling its chorus to 400 members and taking over a local shopping centre to sing Tina Turner’s ‘Proud Mary’, with Andrew and fellow choir masters playing the role of the iconic songstress in full costume.
The Buskerteers Choir highlights that coming together and entertaining the public can help to make a real difference. Their teamwork is inspirational, raising over £37,000 for Comic Relief to date, they’re an absolute Dream Team!
Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief said: “Since the very first campaign in 1988 we are blown away not only by the tremendous amounts of money our supporters raise but also by their creativity and the joy and laughter they bring to their fantastic fundraising efforts.
“That is why this year, we’re excited to be honouring people’s fabulous fundraising achievements with The Nosey Awards. Every award winner has showcased their commitment to raising money to help others, from overcoming personal battles to joining forces with communities in need. It has been fantastic to see people of all ages come together, the money they have raised could help to put food on plates and roofs over heads, keep little ones safe, and help support families affected by conflict and climate change.”
For more information about The Nosey Awards visit www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday/fundraise/awards
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Total amount raised by the award winners does not include all totals for Red Nose Day 2024 fundraising. Our winners are still receiving donations for this year.
About Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day returned on Friday 15 March 2024!
The initiative saw incredible cake-bakers, joke-makers, telly-watchers, t shirt-wearers, Red Nose-buyers and laugh-til-you-cryers, do something to fight poverty through humour and fun, for communities here in the UK and around the world.
We know that when people come together, great things can happen. So, in March, Comic Relief united the nation to Do Something Funny for Money. The money raised could help put food on plates and roofs over heads, keep little ones safe and help support families affected by conflict and climate change. Having a laugh can make a serious difference.
To find out more, visit www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday or follow @comicrelief on social media.
Red Nose Day is an initiative of Comic Relief.
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.
Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.5 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners. For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com or follow @comicrelief on X(opens in new window) (formerly Twitter), Facebook(opens in new window), Instagram(opens in new window), LinkedIn (opens in new window)and TikTok(opens in new window) for the latest content and news.
Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).
