Submitted by Mike Grenville on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:15

Of the over 65 million pounds raised for charity Red Nose Day this year nearly 8 million was raised by SMS - and for the first time all the money raised by text went to charity.

This year £7.8 million was raised for Red Nose Day through £1 and £5 text donations – contributing to the £65.7 million raised so far. It was the first time the public had been able to text knowing that every penny would go to Comic Relief, thanks to mobile operators waiving their usual fees and the Treasury confirming that because of this no VAT will be charged on these donations.

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), in collaboration with Buongiorno, powered the SMS donation channels for Red Nose Day 2009.

The line to text a £5 donation by texting ‘YES’ to 66609 opened on 2nd March and was promoted during ‘The Big Red Nose Climb’ documentary and on the night of TV on 13th March. The £1 text donation launched on 27th February and was promoted on BBC Radio 1, inviting listeners to show their support for the nine celebrities climbing Mount Kilimanjaro by texting ‘CLIMB’ to 88808 to donate £1. Both donation lines close at midnight on 31 March 2009.

The money raised by Comic Relief supports long-term projects which help people to help themselves across the UK and Africa. Launched from a refugee camp in Sudan in 1985, Red Nose Day is a UK-wide fundraising event organised by Comic Relief every two years.