Red Nose round-up

Gloucestershire turns red in aid of Comic Relief

From cake sales to ferret racing, young and old throughout the county found ways of being funny for money yesterday, as they raised cash for this year's Comic Relief.

The county was a sea of red as schools, colleges and workplaces dressed for the occasion and did their bit to mark Red Nose Day and help boost the Comic Relief coffers. Car washes were held in Tewkesbury, while brave men from TX Maxx had their legs waxed in Cheltenham's Regent Arcade.

County pupils went to school dressed in their best red costumes – some with their hair sprayed and others with their faces painted.

Among those doing something funny for money yesterday were the young people of Stroud youth housing centre, Season House, who went out and about in the town selling homemade red nose cakes.

Down the road at SGS College, students paid £1 to go to lectures in fancy dress and spent the day getting involved in a host of fundraising events, including face painting, a human fruit machine and ferret racing.

While in the Hub, students were challenged to 'step into The Cube'. Based on the ITV quiz show hosted by Philip Schofield, those able to beat The Cube won a prize.

There were also performances from music technology students in the cafe at lunchtime.

Little Bea's 54 steps for Comic Relief

You may recall that last month we heard from Josie Armand Smith, who responded to our call: "Are you doing something funny for money?"

Mum Josie, felter extraordinaire and maker of the most beautiful bespoke hats, tweeted: "We are. Guess how many steps will Bea take at her first birthday party."

Josie, who owns Armand Smith, launched 'Josie and Bea's Red Nose Day Giving Page - How Far will Bea Walk?'

Josie asked people to donate and guess how many tiny steps Bea would take at her first birthday party on March 10.

The person who guessed correctly would win a tiny bespoke needle felt animal of their choice.

Well, according to Josie, little Bea had a marvellous first birthday party, and managed to walk a staggering 54 steps.

The winner, Camilla Grey, who guessed the closest with 32 steps, has made the unusal choice of a felt pangolin - a type of scaly anteater - for her prize.

Little Bea managed to far exceed her original target of £250 by raising a stonking £420. Well done Bea!

Comic Relief raises record £75m

Last night's charity telethon, Comic Relief, has raised a record £75m so far.

Kicking off the BBC1 live show, comedian and founder of Red Nose Day, Lenny Henry, ripped off his sobre-looking dark suit to reveal a dazzling gold lamé two-piece adorned with red noses, to mark the 25th anniversary of the comedy fundraiser.

The eight-hour-plus show, which continued well into the early hours of this morning, featured a plethora of well-known faces, with appearances from music mogul Simon Cowell, singer Jessie J, comedians Peter Kay and David Walliams, super model Kate Moss, footballer Frank Lampard, Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Hugh Grant, veteran comedian Ronnie Corbett and boy band One Direction, who performed this year's official Red Nose Day single One Way (Teenage Kicks).

There were also reinterpretations of hit TV shows the Vicar of Dibley and Call the Midwife, while Ricky Gervais resurrected his David Brent character in a mini episode of The Office.

Shortly after 1.30am, comedian Russell Brand announced the money raised stood at £75,107,851 - passing 2011's previous record of £74.3m.

Hosts on stage included Dermot O'Leary, Claudia Winkleman and Jonathan Ross.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOOTAGE FROM LAST NIGHT'S COMIC RELIEF

Popstar Jessie J shaves off her locks for Comic Relief

Last night popstar Jessie J said goodbye to her luscious locks and shaved off all her hair as she completed her Dare for Red Nose Day live on TV.

In front of a studio audience and millions of TV viewers, Jessie bravely faced what would be the most important haircut of her life and had her trademark bob shaved to just 0.5mm in length. 

Speaking afterwards, a relieved Jessie said: "I feel exhilarated to be able to have the opportunity to raise money for people that aren't fortunate enough to say something and be heard. 

"Having visited some Comic Relief projects I can't even begin to explain all the things I've seen, to make people understand how important it is to raise money."

The total raised by Jessie's dare stood at £500k at the time of broadcast last night. A figure which will no doubt continue to rise as people carry on donating.

* To sponsor Jessie go to rednoseday.com/JessieJ