Going funny for money as Comic Relief capers take over county (From Herald Series)

Going funny for money as Comic Relief capers take over county

1:00pm Saturday 16th March 2013 in News By Emma Harrison, Reporter covering Rose Hill, Littlemore and Iffley. Contact me on 01865 425430

RED Nose Day fever hit the county yesterday as fundraisers baked cakes, dressed up or did something funny for money.

Schools, community groups and individuals got into the charity spirit to raise cash for Comic Relief, ahead of the BBC’s fundraising broadcast last night.

Pupils at Headington School in Oxford baked and sold cakes for their Great Headington Bake-Off competition and youngsters also paid to have their nails painted red.

Katie Harris, 14, from Headington, baked one of the three winning cakes with her sister Lottie, 12.

• Click here for the Red Nose Day picture gallery

She said: “It is really good the money is going to Comic Relief.”

Lottie Powell, 14, from Headington, paid 50p to have her nails painted red and added: “I think it is really fun and really good for the charity. It gets more money for the charity and it is an enjoyable way to do it.”

At Didcot’s St Birinus School, pupils paid £1 to take part in the Harlem Shake – a dance craze that has swept the world, where one person, usually in fancy dress, starts dancing before a crowd of dancers join in.

More than 100 pupils took part.

Ryan Frost, 14, from Sutton Courtenay, danced in a Spiderman outfit.

He said: “It was fun. There was lots of people going mad.”

And he said those watching enjoyed it, adding: “Everyone was just laughing and taking pictures.”

Pupils at King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage undertook three different challenges on the school’s three sites.

East site pupils rowed the length of the Thames on rowing machines, west site ran a marathon on treadmills and centre site cycled the distance of London to Paris on exercise bikes.

Wantage 18-year-old Catherine Spilsbury helped organise the cycling event, which involved more than 40 pupils completing a distance of 300 miles between them.

She said: “We really wanted to do something on the theme of challenge and this is a way to bring people together.

“We are hoping to raise £1,000.”

Pupils at Woodstock Primary School made shakers or drums to take part in a ‘shake, rattle and stroll’. They performed for parents and passers-by and collected donations.

Isabella Virrill, four, said: “The whole school was singing. It was really good fun, we dressed up in red.”

Amanda Price, from Yates Lettings in Abingdon, completed a static bike ride dressed as a nun from 9am-5pm outside her office and raised more than £480.

She said: “We have had a fantastic response from Abingdon. Thank you to everyone.”

Kidlington’s Gosford Hill School raised £87 with a cake sale and a baked bean challenge – where pupils attempted to transfer beans with a cocktail stick from one bowl to another in a minute.

Pupil Sam Edwards, 13, took part in the bean challenge. He said: “It was fun, it was a good way to get us involved.”

Jaida Curran, 12, baked cakes for the sale and said: “I like cooking so it was nice for me to get involved. It was a fun way to raise money.”

Promise Idubor enjoyed the dancing at a Rose Hill’s Red Nose Day activities, which included a fancy dress party and bingo at Rose Hill Community Centre and a cake sale at Rose Hill Children’s Centre.

The Cowley eight-year-old said: “We are having a Red Nose party, it is cool.”

Anita Hastings, 35, from Littlemore, is shaving her head at the George pub in Littlemore today and has raised more than £350 so far.

Papa Johns Pizza in Rose Hill donated its takings from Friday afternoon to Comic Relief.

Sainsbury’s staff in Didcot hope to raise more than £500 with fundraising activities. Store manager Kevin Rowse sat in a bath of jelly to raise cash.

Workers from Frogs Island 4x4 in Milton Park offered free car checks and washed cars wearing red noses and frog fancy dressed to raise cash.

Comic Relief spokesman Catherine Donegan said: “Thank you so much on behalf of everyone at Comic Relief to everyone who baked a cake, sang a song, or did something funny for money this Red Nose Day.

“Whether you dug deep and supported a friend or colleague, texted in a donation or took part in a group activity, your money will be spent helping people living unimaginably tough lives in Africa, across the UK and right here in Oxford.”