Comic Relief co-founders Sir Lenny Henry and Richard Curtis have said they feel “deeply honoured” to accept a philanthropy award recognising the charity’s efforts to address inequality and poverty.
Comedian and actor Sir Lenny, 66, who was recently in Prime Video series The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, and Love Actually director Curtis, 68, co-founded Comic Relief in 1985.
On Wednesday, the charity was awarded a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, described by some as the “Nobel Prize for philanthropy”, which recognises those who use their private wealth for public good.
Accepting the catalyst award at the event in Edinburgh, Curtis said: “Both Lenny and I are deeply honoured to accept the Carnegie Catalyst Award on behalf of Comic Relief.
“When we began our journey back in 1985, our primary goal was to be exactly that – a catalyst for charitable efforts across the UK and beyond.
“We didn’t set out to be personally recognised, we intended to make change and encourage others to do the same.
“We’re proud that, over the last 40 years, funds raised by Comic Relief have supported some of the most vital services and organisations across the UK and internationally, and to be recognised as a philanthropic catalyst by the Carnegie institution is a major accolade for us.
“It means a lot to us to accept this award for our efforts in driving a culture of charitable change – for me the award is an acknowledgement of the kindness and generosity of every single person who has, in some way or another, been involved with Comic Relief over the years – and the value of every single pound that has been donated.”
Co-founders Sir Lenny and Curtis accepted the award and a 50,000 dollars (£37,437) grant on the organisation’s behalf.
The aim of Comic Relief was to put the fun into fundraising, but they did not host the first Red Nose Day until 1988 – with 20 million people taking part and raising nearly £16 million for charity.
Later the event became annual, and has seen memorable moments such as Sir Elton John and singer Robbie Williams making a cameo appearance in a special edition of sketch comedy Little Britain, and former prime minister Sir Tony Blair meeting a Catherine Tate sketch comedy character in Downing Street.
Last year, Sir Lenny had his final time co-hosting the star-studded annual appeal programme, after almost four decades at the helm, and was appointed the charity’s honorary life president.
Professor Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, said: “It has been an inspiration to gather in Andrew Carnegie’s native Scotland to celebrate this year’s medallists and Catalyst Award recipients.
“The honourees are exemplars of philanthropy that, in the words of Carnegie, help ‘bend the universal tree of humanity a little in the direction most favourable to the production of good fruit’.”
The 2025 ceremony was hosted collaboratively by the three UK-based Carnegie institutions: Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, Carnegie UK, and The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.
Other 2025 Carnegie honourees include US philanthropist Carol Colburn Grigor, who founded Scotland arts charity the Dunard Fund UK – which has supported the Edinburgh International Festival, of which the former pianist became an honorary vice president in 2013.
Grigor’s support for arts and cultural causes includes the US, Australia, Ireland, and the UK and organisations such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edinburgh International Festival.
Another recipients is American businessman Joe Neubauer and his wife the Metropolitan Opera vice president Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer, who have funded US research centres and colleges as well as the Holocaust Museum, along with husband wife team Barbara and Amos Hostetter.
The Barr Foundation has granted more than 1.5 billion US dollars to the arts, climate, and education causes since 1997.
