Funny for Money

(Posted on 24/04/13)

Comic Relief raises an amazing amount of money every year to help charities in Africa as well as those based here in the UK and this year was no exception. Its campaign surrounding Red Nose Day 2013 raised over £75 million, smashing last year’s total of £74.3 million. This year also saw Zebra supporting one of the Comic Relief chosen charities, Stick ‘n’ Step, with its PR activities. Stick ‘n’ Step provides free specialist conductive education and support services to children with Cerebral Palsy and their families and carers across the North West of England and North Wales, and it was selected to feature in BBC’s ‘Comic Relief Does Glee Club’. After securing a generous grant fund from Comic Relief in 2012 the charity was excited to hear that it had also been chosen as one of only two UK children’s charities to feature on this year’s live semi-final of Comic Relief does Glee Club which aired on 14 March on BBC1 and CBBC. Zebra donated time to help the charity formulate a structured PR plan and generate ideas on how the charity could maximise its fundraising efforts as a result of this exciting opportunity. Zebra also played its part in arranging appearances for Stick ‘n’ Step on both BBC North West Tonight and Tony Snell’s breakfast show on BBC Radio Merseyside, as well as other local media coverage. Public response was overwhelming, with instant donations made to the charity online and words of support written in the local press, over the phone and through both Facebook and Twitter. One couple even went out of their way to find the centre and walked in off the street with a donation of £100 after hearing about Stick ‘n’ Step on BBC Radio Merseyside. Zebra also created a special Comic Relief edition of Stick ‘n’ Step’s newsletter in partnership with Design by Victoria Lee, which was distributed to all of Stick ‘n’ Step’s supporters, friends and family. Sarah Smithson, operation manager for Stick ‘n’ Step was delighted with the Zebra team’s support and commented: “Zebra, thank you from everyone at Stick ‘n’ Step for your hard work and enthusiasm with our project. You did us proud.” To find out more about the great work that Stick ‘n’ Step do, please visit www.sticknstep.org or alternatively contact Sarah Smithson, operations manager on 0151 638 0888.