There will be fun and games across the county for a serious cause this Red Nose Day.

Comic Relief is the reason behind loads of activities in Kent on Friday, March 13, raising funds to be spent helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK and across Africa.

As usual, there’s no shortage of famous faces backing the cause, including Kent’s own Steph and Dom Parker from Channel 4’s Gogglebox, who run the Salutation guest house in Sandwich.

Along with celebs including Lenny Henry and Miranda Hart, the Parkers are promoting the ‘Make your face funny for money’ campaign, in which people paint their faces, take a selfie and text ‘funny’ to 70011 to donate £1.

The show will run on BBC1 and BBC2 from 7pm into the early hours of Saturday, March 14 and will include new sketches from Mr Bean and Little Britain as well as the Great Comic Relief Bake Off: An Extra Slice.

As well as tea parties, non-uniform days and other sponsored fundraisers at nurseries, schools and workplaces across the county, there are no shortage of alternative ways to get involved in person.

Here are some of Kent’s best Red Nose events at a glance

The fun in Kent on Friday includes a very physical challenge by staff and volunteers at Kent & East Sussex Railway (KESR), who are tackling a 100-mile pump trolley challenge along the railway line from TENTERDEN to Bodiam and back. Pump trolleys, once used for ferrying track maintenance crews around railways, have appeared in films and TV shows, often giving a comic touch to scenes featuring trains. The team will have to do the return trip five times to get to 100 miles and are already close to their fundraising target of £1,000. Spectators are welcome from 11am for as long as the challenge lasts.
Visit www.kesr.org.uk

If you fancy taking more of an active part yourself, then join the CANTERBURY Does Comic Relief 3km run at Canterbury Academy’s Lifestyle Fitness on Saturday, March 14. It is a family fun event gathering from 11am and setting off at noon, in which people can run, jog or walk. There will also be children’s races on the athletics track, a penalty shoot-out and spin bike challenges.
Visit www.sportingeventsuk.com

Sainsbury’s at Park Farm Retail Park FOLKESTONE will be releasing 500 helium balloons on Friday at 1pm to mark Red Nose Day and customers can pay £1 to have their name written on one and see whose travels furthest. There will be a tombola in the store raising yet more money for Comic Relief on Saturday.
Visit www.sainsburys.co.uk

Kent Gliding Club, near ASHFORD, is offering the chance to fly a glider for Comic Relief in exchange for a donation of £25 or more. Flights can be booked for Friday or Saturday, though places are limited, at Sainsbury’s Bybrook, Ashford, or by emailing soaring@kent-gliding-club.co.uk or calling 01233 740274.

Looking ahead, you’ve still time to start limbering up your larynx for a 12-hour music marathon in aid of Comic Relief. SHEPPEY Folk and Blues Club is organising the charity fundraiser at Minster Working Men’s Club on Saturday, March 21. Anyone who would like to sing a song, play an instrument or tell a joke or funny story can have a go by making a donation of £1 for each song or performance. The aim is to have entertainment flowing continuously from 11am to 11pm, and organisers are hoping to beat last year’s record total of £485. Entry is free.
Contact Graham White on 07990 828114 or email sheppeyfolkandbluesclub@talktalk.net

A huge conga line will form in Gillingham Park, MEDWAY, at 3.30pm on Friday. Organisers Charing House care home will have sponsorship forms and buckets ready and are hoping to collect people on the way round to make the line longer. Just turn up to take part.

Visitors to a High Street opticians in MAIDSTONE are invited to make a spectacle of themselves. Novelty glasses for Comic Relief are on sale until Friday at Specsavers, available in child and adult sizes and priced at £3, with £1 from every sale going to the charity. The store’s Ed Fox said: “People seem to be liking them. Over the first few days we raised £117 and hopefully that’s going to rise.”
Visit www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/maidstone

Shoppers in DARTFORD will be encouraged to pull a funny face for Red Nose Day. Members of the town’s youth council will be putting on face paint, wacky wigs, moustaches and outlandish make-up at the Meeting Place, Orchards Shopping Centre between noon and 4pm on Saturday, March 14.
Visit www.orchardsdartford.co.uk

Sainsbury’s in DEAL is asking shoppers to take funny selfies. The supermarket in West Street is looking to raise £2,500 for Comic Relief through various wacky methods between now and Saturday, March 14. The store’s Mark Leppard said: “We’re asking customers to take a funny selfie of themselves or family, print it off, bring it into the store and enter it for a competition.” There is also a design a nose competition for children. Pupils from Northbourne Primary School will be street dancing in the store on the Saturday under Dance Fusion 23 and principal Charley Hawkins.
Visit www.sainsburys.co.uk