Frome supports Comic Relief

Story posted on March 24, 2015

Mary Jane Wiltshire Dale Taylor and Hannah Coombes at Not Just Pets raise £160 for Red Nose Day

SCHOOLCHILDREN, residents, and businesses in Frome came out in force to support Comic Relief.

The appeal asked people across the UK to do something ‘funny for money’ and Frome did its bit to help the appeal raise as they contributed to a national fundraising total of £78million so far, with money continuing to pour in.

In Frome, Oakfield Academy organised several fun activities to raise £820.55  for Comic Relief. Children paid to come to school in red mufti and made and sold red themed cakes and biscuits. For the adventurous there was a roller skate course to negotiate but the highlight was seeing teachers’ faces being made up ‘funny for money.’ Children designed the make-up, and the chosen designers got to paint the faces on – which remained for the rest of the day!

Not Just Pets in Frome town centre raised £160 by selling cakes and progressively getting sillier as the day went on. Mary-Jane Wiltshire explained that their three stores in Frome, Bath  and Larkhall had a “bake off competition” and the cakes were sold on Red Nose Day to raise money.

Frome’s Specsavers branch completed a 100km spinathon on a static bike outside the store, while also holding a bake sale – collecting more than £350 in donations.

Paul Rich, store director of Specsavers Frome said, “The comedy specs have been flying off the shelves, but we wanted to do something in addition to show our support and raise further funds for Comic Relief. The whole team got behind Red Nose Day and we thank everyone who donated.  A special thank you also to Ellenbray Press for kindly making our posters.”

Bright Stars Childcare also raised £226.52 for Comic Relief

Comic Relief runs every two years, alternating with its sister project Sport Relief. The event began in 1985 to help raise cash to combat famine in Ethiopia. Since then, the appeal has raised over £900million to tackle poverty and social injustice across the UK, Africa, and some of the world’s poorest countries.

You can find out more about comic relief at www.comicrelief.com