Celebrities Go the Extra Mile for Sport Relief 2006 Launch

Celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment will today launch the Sport Relief 2006 campaign at The Albannach, WC2 and in Trafalgar Square. Chris Evans, Davina McCall, Kate Thornton, Patrick Kielty, Kirsty Gallacher, Steve Cram and Sally Gunnell will be among the host of famous faces urging the country to Go the Extra Mile this summer.

At the heart of the whole campaign is the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile, where the entire country including celebrities, politicians and the general public are urged to do a Mile to raise money to help vulnerable people leading tough lives here in the UK, and in the poorest countries of the world. At the start line this year will be the likes of Sadie Frost, Sir Steve Redgrave, Chantelle Houghton, Dame Kelly Holmes, Ade Adepitan, Kirsty Gallagher, Jo Brand and plenty more.

Programming leading up to July 15th on BBC ONE includes “Sport Relief Goes All Out for India”, a two part documentary which follows a celebrity cricket team in India, and “Sport Relief presents Only Fools on Horses”, where 10 celebrities battle it out to show jump their way to success over 9 nights of live TV, culminating in the Grand Finale on July 15th.

Sport Relief Saturday on July 15th will also see a 5-hour TV special on BBC ONE, hosted by Davina McCall, Chris Evans and Gary Lineker. Highlights will include a special from the cast of Footballers Wives, “All Star Boxing”, “Peter Kay Live from the Phoenix Club” and a star studded “Question of Sport Relief”.

Live coverage from the 15 ‘flagship’ Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Miles will be beamed across the UK on July 15th on BBC ONE’s Sport Relief Mile show, presented by John Inverdale and Colin Jackson.

The Sport Relief Red Sock is central to the experience of everyone taking part in the day. Each ‘Miler’ will take part wearing one red ‘Doing It’ sock, and at the finish line they’ll be presented with a second ‘Done It’ sock to make a pair, and show the world that they’ve socked it to poverty.

Sport Relief merchandise includes a Fairtrade T-Shirt, a ‘Roger’ – the Sport Relief mascot which is the must have accessory for Summer 2006 – and the Roger pin badge. All merchandise is exclusively available at Sainsbury’s and online at http://www.sportrelief.com.

In 2004, Sport Relief raised more than £16 million and saw more than 80,000 people Going the Extra Mile. This time it’s going to be even bigger.

For more information, contact the Comic Relief Media Team:
Lucy McGill: 020 7840 2529 l.mcgill@comicrelief.org.uk
Anna Capleton: 020 7840 2527 a.capleton@comicrelief.org.uk
Ryan Holloway: 020 7840 2530 r.Holloway@comicrelief.org.uk

BBC Sport Publicity:
Caroline Inman: 020 8576 7789 Caroline.Inman@bbc.co.uk

Sport Relief Online Media Centre: http://www.sportrelief.com/mediacentre

Notes to Editors:

Go the Extra Mile on Sport Relief Saturday, July 15th 2006. Visit http://www.sportrelief.com to find out more, or call 0845 605 8000 for an entry kit (Calls cost no more than 4p per min from BT landlines. Other operator and mobile rates may vary).

There are 15 national mile events for you to choose from:

Belfast (Custom House Square), Birmingham (Millennium Point), Brighton (Madeira Drive), Bristol (Millennium Square), Cardiff (City Hall Lawns), Glasgow (Glasgow Green), Hull (Queens Gardens), Ipswich (Christchurch Park), Leeds (Roundhay Park), London (Victoria Embankment), Manchester (Exchange Square), NewcastleGateshead (Quayside), Nottingham (Victoria Embankment), Plymouth (Plymouth Hoe), Southampton (Hoglands Park).

To make a donation, call 08457 910 910 (local call charges apply)

Sport Relief was set up by Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, to tackle poverty and disadvantage here at home and overseas

Since its launch in 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £30 million

Half of the money raised will be spent in the UK to help give those living in disadvantaged and divided communities a better life; the other half will help children and young people in the world’s poorest countries, faced with the daily reality of extreme poverty, abuse and exploitation

Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief, registered charity 326568, in association with BBC Sport

Thank you to everyone involved in the Sport Relief 2006 launch: The Albannach, 66 Trafalgar Square, Greater London Authority, Limelight, Impact Promotions, Rapid Response Barriers, Music and Arts Security, Newman Displays, Freud Communications and Matt Mitchell

Contact Information

Michael Hanna

R&D

gransha

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