Lancaster students were inspired to access their comic and caring sides on Friday March 18, by getting involved in an array of fund raising events in support of Comic Relief both on and off campus.
Lancaster’s Bailrigg FM carried out a 24 hour broadcast, where three DJs; Paul Hodges, Bailrigg’s Program Controller; Curtis Kennington, the General Secretary and Rachel Harvey, Assistant Station Manager, had to remain on the airwaves for the duration of 24 hours. They were joined by other DJs throughout the period of time to help to motivate them and bring some variation to the schedule.
Unlike Radio 1’s Longest Ever Show, in which Chris Moyles and Dave Vitty spent 52 hours on air for Comic Relief this year, the BailriggFM DJs were not able to take breaks away from the airwaves and someone had to be on air at all times.
During 10am till 3pm Bailrigg FM’s live broadcast moved to Sainsbury’s foyer, chosen because Sainsbury’s is the largest sponsor of Comic Relief. Here the DJs took part in dares such as climbing into a bath of baked beans and promoted the prizes they had on offer. This included ten Sugarhouse tickets, Jack Daniels merchandise and two family passes to Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool worth £50, to be won for guessing the correct number of red Smarties in a pint glass.
The team raised £305 from online donations, competitions and a charity bucket located at the Lancaster City game. They also had a “swear jar” in the station, where every time as mistake was made or a wrong button was press the DJ’s had to put money into the bucket.
After the 24-hour broadcast had been completed, Harvey told SCAN: “We feel the broadcast went very, very well. […] The response from the listeners was very touching. Even in the middle of the night they messaged in with supportive messages/jokes/stories etc, and we always had good listening figures.”
Peter Gartland and Andrew Pickering’s simple but effective Pie in the Face for Red Nose Day involved foam pies being thrown at Gartland and Pickering outside LUSU between 12pm and 4pm. They managed to raise £115.81 for Comic Relief.
When asked why they decided on pies, Gartland said: “We toyed with a few other ideas like water balloon throwing but we thought that this was an absolute classic […] It is something funny for money.”
Lancaster University Comedy Institute For Amateurs also got in on the act, bringing the comedy to Comic Relief, by performing LUCIFA Laughs in Fylde bar. Two teams of four comedians were pitted against each other, to encourage the audience to donate money on which acts they liked the best. The society managed to draw their largest audience to date, and raise £126 for the charity. They had some huge laughs, particularly from Jak Marshall and Tom Dransfield.
“We want to drive home how effective comedy can be as a means of promoting and drawing attention to social issues. We think that Comic Relief is an excellent example of this and we want to support it as much as we can,” said former society President and founder, Ben Winterton.
The newly opened Pendle Rooms hosted a fancy dress party that included leg waxing of the male JCR executive in order to raise money. A slave auction offered up a meal cooked by the college Principle, an unlimited third term guest list to the Sugarhouse, as well as a date with LUSU President, Robbie Pickles. The night also sported Sumo Wrestling, drinks offers and a DJ set by Sugarhouse’s Jack Woodgate.
Pendle JCR President, Sam Crompton saw the night as a success and the event managed to raise a massive £450.
The SCAN team have taken their kit off to show their support of Comic Relief. Shot back in November, a group of editors and writers braved the freezing temperatures and took a series of risqué photographs to become part of an academic calendar. The idea was inspired by the Fylde ladies dart team who had done a similar fund raiser two years before.
When asked about the experience, SCAN Assistant Editor, Collette McColgan said: “The day as a whole was really funny. Obviously the beginning was a little awkward, as you would probably expect from a group of people about to get naked for a photo shoot. However, once one person braved it, everyone else did. The awkwardness and hefty supply of wine definitely made the whole thing more amusing for us at least.”
The calendars will be printed to order costing £5 and can be ordered from the SCAN office in the LUSU building, or by emailing scan.assistanteditor@lusu.co.uk.
Comic Relief is a charity based in the UK, striving to “create a just world free from poverty”. They work to tackle social injustices both in the UK and abroad, having worked in 76 countries globally since they were established in 1985.
Red Nose Day 2011, saw £74,360,207 raised as comics and performers pulled together, entertaining the nation into parting with their hard earned pennies.
