Red Nose Day

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5, EYFS

Region(s): All of UK

Red Nose Day is an annual fundraising campaign created by Comic Relief. It uses the power of comedy and entertainment to bring people together and raise money to fund projects that tackle poverty and its consequences in the UK and the rest of the world. Red Nose Day 2026 is on 20th March and the theme for this year is Take Yourself Funny for Money.

From running your own Taskmaster challenge to a Design-Yer Nose competition, find ideas and activity packs to help primary and secondary schools get involved on the Comic Relief website.

Cost: Free

About Comic Relief: Comic Relief is a major UK charity founded in 1985 by film writer and director Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry. The charity’s goal is to drive positive change through the power of entertainment. The money it raises funds projects that tackle injustice and poverty around the world. The first Red Nose Day took place in 1988. Red Nose Day was celebrated every two years until 2022, when it became an annual event.

Further resources:

Could your class be crowned Britain’s Funniest Class in Beano‘s annual joke competition for primary schools? The deadline for entries is 27th March 2026 and there is a free Manual of Mischief to download for some ideas and tips.
Use the wordplay in jokes to embed some key aspects of grammar and punctuation with this set of SPaG LOLZ lesson plans from Beano.
Find book recommendations, storytelling prompts and ideas to promote writing in the National Literacy Trust’s Comic Relief Hot Topic resource. Suitable for ages 4-14 and available to download with a free NLT account.
Download free teaching resources and unleash pupils’ creativity with the Ridiculous Writers mini saga competition from Young Writers. There are prizes for pupils and schools and the opportunity for young writers to see their work in print. Closing date for entries is 27th March. Suitable for pupils aged 7-12.
Explore the National Literacy Trust’s Comedy Improvisation resources to help KS2 pupils improve their speaking and listening skills, build confidence and develop their creativity. Available with a free NLT account.
BBC’s Comedy Classroom provides a range of free, curriculum-linked literacy resources that teachers can use to explore comedy writing with their primary and secondary pupils.
Twinkl has a collection of official Comic Relief resources for the classroom that are available to download with a free account.
Explore the selection of laugh-out-loud recommendations for primary aged children from Books for Topics.
Reading Gladiators Power-Up is a themed book club designed to engage more reluctant readers using high-interest, accessible texts such as funny books, graphic novels and wordless picture books and a playful approach.
The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards harness the power of humour to help engage young readers. Sign your pupils up to take part in judging one of the award’s four categories in the autumn term.
Explore this year’s Read for Empathy collection to find books that offer children and young people the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes and develop key empathy skills.