Comic Relief

We have people who listen all over the world to this podcast, so thank you very much for that.

If you're unaware, Children in Need and Red Nose Day are two big television-based fundraising... specials effectively and times have changed greatly in recent years with more internet based stuff that they do now and so on but back when I was growing up and for many years after children in need and especially when it came to comic relief which is Red Nose Day they became prominent television moments, really.

Your Saturday night would be dominated by this event.

And you'd have special editions of TV shows, famous comedies, famous dramas, special editions of that.

So Doctor Who...

some four-ish years after it was cancelled is brought back for a special for Children in Need, Dimensions in Time, which is done with a crossover to very popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, which adds extra faces and actors in it as well.

And then the Red Nose Day, the comic relief edition that was done a few years after this is done with a completely fresh cast and no real references back to the old show, the classic show, with any actual companions or anything like that involved.

Where would you like to start, Dan? Which one of these would you like to begin with?

This is a cover of Run DMC's version of Aerosmith's Walk This Way.

And this was not on the Sound of Girls Aloud album, but it is from this era as it was released as the official Comic Relief charity single March 2007.

And this collaboration between Girls Aloud and Sugar Babes came from Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis.

And this song hit number one in the UK, becoming Girls Aloud's

third UK number one and the Sugar Babes' fifth.

Like everyone's kind of holding back a little bit.

They're almost kind of scared to interact a little bit.

They're a lot looser in the comic relief performance.

I really appreciate it.

So you both work, well, you both worked at Comic Relief together.

You have just left recently.

Very, very recently, haven't you? But you both were in the diversity, equity and inclusion team.

And to be able to look at it through a different lens, I absolutely loved.

The time came for me to leave Sea Rider because I'd been there about nine years.

And then in March this year, I moved to Comic Relief, which is where I currently am.

So I'm the culture and inclusion partner at Comic.

and then here I

am talking about my family and Kevin Kyle from Comic Relief came to me the other night and said bloody hell your mum's funnier than you he said

thanks a lot Kev But it's being able to understand and see what's funny and, you know, a sort of...

I think a comedian, but any kind of artist, has to sort of step back and view stuff.

And it's just amazing.

And I know that, you know, there's a charity that you're involved in and there's been lots of connections with Sue Townsend and Comic Relief and everything like that.

So this seems like a really perfect place to kind of start bringing your story to the most incredible end.

So talk to us about the charity work, Comic Relief and everything that you want to tell us about.

Yeah.

After going back to, I used my lifeline after the death of the boyfriend, knowing that that was definitely going to be a trigger.

And they went, okay, come back.

So I went back and they counseled me and the kids and they were funded by Comet Relief.

So Claire Gregory, I'm asking you to come back to us.

Did you get sick up the mountain or were you okay? Did you cope? Do you remember we watched it on Comedy Relief and some of them were sick and some of them never made it.

Yeah, it's so bad.

The last bit you have to...

I made that very clear in all of the comms and marketing around the event.

um I didn't want people standing around feeling awkward and like you know feeling that you have to be your best professional self I wanted people to come along and feel like they could just relax and have a laugh and meet other people who just understand what it's like working in charities um and so yeah just a nice night off really and that's what was so lovely about seeing everyone together we had a live podcast part of the evening so I had Mubinti Esho and Eddie Hartley joined me, who work at Comic Relief, and we had such an interesting conversation about careers, inclusion, belonging, and I knew Mubinti and Eddie would not disappoint.

in terms of spilling the tea but oh my god the tea was hot they were so open and honest and i really am appreciative of them for that they really brought honest frank and candid insights and thoughts to the evening and i think you know, I appreciated it and I think everybody in the room appreciated that.

We're not here to shy away from those conversations.

That could be quite good.

I'd be really interested in things like Children in Need or Comic Relief.

If they go down this route and say, you know, chat GPT, make a £20 donation to Comic Relief.

And it just goes up and does it for you.

I think that's where it gets quite interesting.

So the music video did see Rachel leading a parade of women out of the sewers and down the streets of London.

Now, we had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Whelan, who is one of the original founders of Comic Relief, along with Richard Curtis, about making this video.

So let's hear from Paul.

Well, I was, you know, I used to do a lot for Comet Relief.