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Fourlanesend Primary - open letter to Comic Relief

fourlanesend comic relied red nose

30th January 2019

Dear Organisers of Comic Relief

Open letter to the Organisers of Comic Relief

We, like many others, are very proud to be supporting Comic Relief this year. The good causes and money raised change lives both here in the UK and in the world’s poorest communities. The children at our school feel that it is a very worthwhile charity to be supporting.

However, we are writing to let you know that, in light of concerns raised by some of our pupils here at Fourlanesend Community Primary School in Cornwall, we have decided not to order any red noses for Comic Relief Day this year.

Following Sir David Attenborough’s BBC documentary and the subsequent ‘Blue Planet Effect’ last year, which saw such a dramatic increase in public awareness and outrage about plastic pollution, we find it surprising that the BBC is still marketing red plastic foam noses. They are essentially just another form of single use plastic, which will probably be worn for one day only before ending up in landfill. Even worse, they could end up as litter in the environment.

We are a small rural school near the coast and many of our pupils participate in beach cleans where they see only too well the impact of plastic waste. Polystyrene and foam materials, like that used to make the Comic Relief noses, break down easily in the marine environment and are often ingested by fish and seabirds. Over one-third of the fish landed at our local fish market have plastic pieces in their guts and that figure rises to 100% for our local fulmars (a type of seabird).

Our pupils do not want to add to this problem – so this year instead of using the plastic noses, we will be celebrating by painting our noses red, wearing red, baking cakes and participating in a Comic Relief wake and shake. We hope to raise just as much money as ever for Comic Relief good causes, without adding to the world’s plastic pollution.

We would also like to ask you at Comic Relief to commit to seeking alternatives to the plastic noses in the future. Please could you inform our children of your intentions towards this?

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully

 

Fourlanesend School Council