I was surprised to see such a low amount raised, before realising this has been a long term trend. Does it correlate with how much money UK households have spare to give to charity? Not really.
Posted by Borg_King
![[OC] Red Nose Day fundraising has collapsed in real terms, but it's not because households are skint](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/skesnh1bjcqg1-1536x881.png "[OC] Red Nose Day fundraising has collapsed in real terms, but it’s not because households are skint")
I was surprised to see such a low amount raised, before realising this has been a long term trend. Does it correlate with how much money UK households have spare to give to charity? Not really.
Posted by Borg_King
24 Comments
I don’t know what’s happened with their distribution but you don’t seem them anywhere nowadays. They did seem to fall off a cliff like the chart shows. Maybe something changed in the business model that put shops off selling it or a controversy
We’re being squeezed in the UK from every angle. The families that are lucky enough to have financial headroom are saving that headroom for when they need it themselves.
Sources: Comic Relief totals from official history / ONS CRXX (RHDI per head, CVM ref 2023) / ONS NRJS (household savings ratio) / ONS CPI (2015=100). Financial headroom = RHDI per head × savings ratio, reflated to 2026 prices. Chart built in React
More Netflix, less TV and BBC I think is the main reason. Why pay the license fee when you can get 3 streaming services for the same price and even if you do- way more shows on the others
Who is really watching BBC1 live now? Before you might intentionally watch RND; I’ve not watched linear TV in so long, I don’t even know when it’s on.
I didn’t realise it was even on until I saw it advertised on catchup.
Long gone are the days when every other car had a red nose on it…
Where is this spare money data coming from? We’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis where many people are choosing between eating or staying warm.
Id argue it’s a case of more TV channels so there is a much greater chance of not knowing it’s happening, combined with people feeling skint in places wages have been stagnant for well over a decade.
It was a thing when I was at school, and since then I’ve never heard anyone mention it. So if you’re relying mainly on children and families to donate, there’s not going to be much available for a donation.
Average financial headroom per head doesn’t tell you whether households are skint or not.
2000 2000 2000 has an average of 2000
0 0 6000 has an average of 2000.
So that graph about financial headroom per head doesn’t tell is whether most people have money or not. It just tells us money exists in the system but it says nothing about how concentrated it is.
In 2000 2000 2000 scenario all three can afford to give. In 0 0 6000 scenario only one can afford to give, and they’re not going to give triple the amount to make up for the other two not having money, so donations plummet even though average headroom doesn’t change.
Maybe people got sick of being constantly told to fund the poor and needy via charity, because the government deliberately destroyed the tax-funded social safety net.
Just a guess, but aren’t there far more charities nowadays? Maybe it’s just a matter of better distribution. It’d be nice to have a line for overall charity donations in the UK.
I’d like to think it’s because people have started to wake up to the fact that most charities are just massive scams where only a fraction of the money raised actually goes to those who need it.
I fucking HATE red nose.
In my company (huge international company), they plaster this fucking shit all over the office for months. From January we have flyers, stickers everywhere, posters on the wall, the execs do stupid performative bullshit that nobody gives a flying fuck about, and in the end they don’t even ask for donations anywhere, and nobody has a clue about what this red nose shit is. All the while half our colleagues have been laid off.
It’s literally real life spam. I assume people are just tired of this shit and not giving anymore.
It’s because it’s now every year as opposed to every two years.
When it was every two years it was more fun when it happened. Now it’s totally bland and boring.
Red Nose Day was at its best in the 2000s and part of the 2010s, but it’s been garbage for years now.
Don’t forget in 2013 it was revealed that comic relief (org behind RND) invest in companies involved in the arms trade, tobacco etc. Bit hypocritical for such a charity event to misuse funds like that.
You post this and it reminds me ah yeah I vaguely remeber it’s in March. This is literally the first I’ve heard of it this year. Googled ah OK apparently yesterday. And this is why they probably don’t get as many donations. Can’t give if you don’t know.
Obligatory Coldplay Game of Thrones Red Nose Day musical that they did. Absolutely f**king insanely hilarious! https://youtu.be/zs7xO5P3Az4
As much as there is the TV thing and people not watching it any more, I do think also doing the same things repeatedly got a bit tiring. I remember we used to have a school bake sale every comic relief. I’d imagine trying to do the same thing with red noses just got a bit tiring.
For me, its because the program is cringey unfunny crap
I think people are fatigued when it comes to charities, everywhere you go you’re asked to donate. Use your card, add 25p for charity. Buy a McDonald’s, do you want to round it up. Watch YouTube and half the ads are charity appeals. I think this wears people down over time, numbs us a bit because it’s pushed in our faces so often and makes people less inclined to donate because quite frankly how do you choose? So you choose nothing.
I also remember when I was younger these telethons like comic relief or children in need were a highlight of TV viewing, the publicity they received was mega. This year I was blissfully unaware until I turned on the TV and saw it was happening. I watched it for half hour, but the buzz and the magic just wasn’t there like I remember, maybe it’s because I’ve got older I dunno. I think that buzz generates engagement and results in more donations, but it just didn’t seem to have that. I think the change in TV viewing habits is partly too blame, it’s no longer the big media event that it used to be.
I also think people have a more skeptical approach to charity giving these days as well because of questions over how the money actually gets spent. I must admit I personally prefer to donate to smaller local charities where I know my donation actually makes a difference than big national appeals.
I feel with the growth of the web there’s also a lot more ways to donate to organisations that really resonate with me on a personal level. If a person feels strongly about an issue, they can easily find a decent group to donate to online that offers support locally or nation-wide whenever they have the money.
I’m more skeptical now of charities given a lot of the recent reveals that some are misleading and don’t actually do much or put funds into things antithetical to their supposed existence. I have very little to give, so I don’t want it wasted on a huge marketing budget or for it to go to expensive “advisors” when it could provide a carer for a person with dementia, provide a call for a LGBTQA+ teen in crisis or feed a family in a harder situation than I.
Red Nose Day itself feels gauche these days. Hell no am I ordering a nose from Amazon of all companies and having it shipped to my door.
Did schools actually do anything this year? Mine didn’t
My theory is that streaming TV has affected this sort of fundraiser. 20 years ago, this was on prime time on a Friday night, a big proportion of people watched it and donated. Who watches live TV now?