Comic Relief

As I sit here suffering from man-flu in my nice warm house, staying off work but still being paid and with my muscles and bones having screaming arguments with each other, I have had the chance to watch a bit more telly than usual.

It is impossible to miss the fact that Comic Relief will soon be upon us. Hitherto, my sole contribution has been to buy a Red Nose from Sainsburys which got put in a drawer and then to spend the day itself avoiding other people wearing Red Noses. This is no mean feat when imprisoned on a London Underground carriage for one-and-a-half hours and bucket rattlers abound.

I have always seen Comic Relief as a poor relation to Children In Need. It's all about chucking money to foreign lands, isn't it? Look at the state of our country! Charity begins at home.

I now realise that these views are, to put no finer point on it, complete bollocks.

Last year, I had cause to fly into Mumbai airport. On the approach, you fly over a huge shanty town which is on the airport perimeter. Some of the shacks were protected by bright blue tarpaulin. Many were not.

The passenger next to me, an indian gentleman, expressed disgust. But this was not disgust at how horrific those living conditions were but that they were making the airport look untidy to incoming Sahibs such as myself. I was appalled....in a quiet, understated, very British way.

The aeroplane did its usual trip around the airport looking for somewhere to park and then I had to get a bus to the Domestic Departures terminal. This enabled me to get a closer look at the edge of the slum. Women were washing and cooking. Wafer-thin kids were playing football in the mud. Men were staring. What were they thinking of, I wonder? "look at those lucky bastards", perhaps? I think not. I did not see any envy in those eyes. I smiled weakly at one of them and he beamed back. We exchanged a brief wave before my bus set off.

Later in the week, I was in Delhi. My God. It is all concrete and flyovers these days. Despite, its advancement over recent years there are still deformed children performing acrobatic tricks in the middle of 3 lane highways to try and earn money. They are being watched over by a number of large well-fed men who shout at them if they stop their flip-flopping for more than a second.

Both the man at the airport and these kids in Delhi deserve to have a chance. Just a little glimmer of light. Something tangible that they can aim at and work towards.

Comic Relief is not just about digging wells and building schools in Africa. It is far more reaching than that. Did you know that it helps sponsor the Altzheimer's Society in Bradford? Neither did I but it does. Look http://www.comicrelief.com/how-we-help/the-difference-we-have-made/personal-stories/den-and-audrey

Comic Relief has years of experience in getting our donations to the people and places that can make the best use of it. We must trust them to make the judgment as to where this is. I have not been to Africa and apart from what I see from my armchair have no real clue as to the challenges those people face day by day. The two small events that I saw in India, a supposedly wealthy country, made a lasting impression. I don't know the half of it or even the hundredth of it.

I, for one, will be digging a bit deeper into my pocket this year.