Category: TV Ent
Date: 11.02.2005
Printable version
It's Your Comic Relief, the first ever Red Nose Day documentary of its kind, will see members of the public who have raised money for previous Red Nose Days taken to Africa to visit Comic Relief funded projects, accompanied by Davina McCall and Lenny Henry.
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The 大象传媒 ONE documentary, to mark this year's 10th Red Nose Day, sees Davina escort three Coventry bus drivers to Kenya and Lenny accompany a family from Bristol to Ethiopia.
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Both parties have been chosen for their fundraising contributions to previous Red Nose Days and the trips offered them a unique opportunity to see how their money was spent by Comic Relief.
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Davina McCall took Darren, Kevin and John - who raised thousands of pounds in 2003 by stripping on live television on Red Nose Day - to visit two organisations funded by Comic Relief in Kenya: the National Cooperative Housing Union (NACHU) and Resource Projects.
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Lenny Henry went to Ethiopia with the Chaplin family - Gail, Barry, Cassie and Vicky - where they visited two projects funded by Comic Relief based in Addis Ababa: GOAL and St Matthews Children's Fund.
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For Red Nose Day 2003 the family raised more than 拢5,000 by organising a pub challenge and they have made an amazing contribution to Red Nose Days over the years.
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The documentary will follow the reactions of both the bus drivers and the Chaplin family as they witness first hand the levels of poverty in Africa and see how every penny of the cash they have helped raise has been put to good use.
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It's Your Comic Relief will be shown in early March on 大象传媒 ONE.
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Notes to Editors
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The film is a 大象传媒/Open University co-production for Red Nose Day 2005.
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To order a copy of the Fundraising Kit call 0845 605 8000 (local rate call charges apply) or go to www.rednoseday.com and order the kit online.
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To make a donation, call 08457 910 910 (local rate call charges apply).
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Red Nose Day aims to tackle poverty and social injustice in the UK and Africa.
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Since its launch in 1985, Comic Relief has raised more than 拢337m.
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There have been nine Red Nose Days so far and in total these have raised 拢289m.
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40% of the money raised directly through Red Nose Day is allocated to work in the UK and 60% goes to work in Africa.
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The theme for RND '05, Big Hair & Beyond... Just Do Something, is about changing the way you look for the day to transform someone else's life forever.
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Comic Relief promises that for every pound the charity gets directly from the public, a pound goes to help people affected by poverty and social injustice to transform their lives.
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Comic Relief is a registered charity, number 326568.
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The projects visited - in Kenya
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National Cooperative Housing Union (NACHU)
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Rural poverty in Kenya has lead to a huge amount of people moving to towns and cities. Once in urban areas millions end up living in illegal slums.
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60% of the people living in Nairobi now live in the city's slums.
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NACHU helps people to form housing co-operatives where, as a group, they can save money together and afford a deposit to buy a plot of land.
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NACHU then provides them with loans so they can carry on paying for their new land and homes.
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Resource Projects (RP)
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Samburu in northern Kenya is home to 150,000 traditional pastoralists - their livelihood depends on their livestock.
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Pastoralists have the highest incidence of poverty in Kenya.
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RP aims to protect their most valuable resources -the animals and their land, training people in animal health care and helping them to better predict and survive periodic droughts and food shortages.
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The project also helps people manage the use of the community's forests and runs literacy and numeracy programmes.
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The projects visited - in Ethiopia
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St Matthews Children's Fund
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From the famines, wars and onslaught of HIV/Aids in the last 20 years, many children have been abandoned or orphaned.
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There are more than 100,000 street children now living in Ethiopia's major towns.
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St Matthews Children's Fund works with a local organisation - Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organisation - which helps orphans find new homes.
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It also helps with looking after the children, monitors their progress and offers extra tutorials if any of are behind in school.
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GOAL
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The number of street children in Ethiopia has risen dramatically over the last few years. The problem has become most acute in the capital city Addis Ababa.
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GOAL works in Addis Ababa and provides access to night shelter where street children can sleep safely and have a meal.
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In the long term, the project offers education and skills training to help them find jobs.
