HUNDREDS of children and elderly people donned plastic red noses and fancy dress to help raise more than £63 million in this year’s Comic Relief Red Nose Day.

They included primary school children in Bradford on Avon, Freshford, Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury, as well as care home residents.

Children and staff at River Mead Primary School in Melksham staged a comical cake competition on Wednesday, March 13 and had a cake sale at the end of school.

In total, for the cake sale and non-uniform day they raised £200.25 to donate to the national Comic Relief Appeal.

Pupils at Freshford Church of England Primary School queued up to have their red noses painted on, instead of buying plastic ones. Spokeswoman Liz Lowe said: “The school wanted to support Comic Relief but didn’t want to add to the plastic pollution problem.

“Freshford School recently signed up to The Plastic Free Schools initiative, run by the charity Surfers Against Sewage, a pupil-led programme aimed at reducing single-use plastic.”

At Sutton Veny Primary School near Warminster, pupils wore their red noses for the school’s afternoon assembly.

At primary schools in Westbury Leigh and Bowerhill, pupils donned red noses and dressed in red for the fundraising event.

Staff at the Wiltshire Heights care home in Bradford on Avon team dressed in the “wrong trousers” and hosted a day of events including a Mona Lisa -themed photo shoot donated to the home by Stephen Kerr and the team at the Three store in The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge.

They also organised an array of games and a performance by Imperial Charity with afternoon tea for the 50-plus residents.

Libby Miles, of Wiltshire Heights, said: “The team look great in their outfits and the residents really enjoyed being part of the Mona Lisa photo shoot. It really has been a day to remember.”

At the Watersmead care home at Westbury and at Henford House care home in Warminster, staff and residents also donned fancy dress and red noses.

By the end of the national television broadcast, more than £63 million had been raised – about £8 million down on the £71.3 million raised by the last Red Nose Day two years ago.

This year’s Red Nose Day telethon also saw a dip in ratings, with an average of 5.6 million people tuning in - 600,000 fewer viewers compared to 2017.

The highest amount the event has raised so far was £108.4m in 2011, once all the pledges had been redeemed.

Half the money raised from Comic Relief goes to causes in the UK and half to those around the world.