THE CHILDREN of one Cumbrian school raised a bumper amount for Comic Relief this week, but there wasn’t a plastic red nose in sight.

Crosby Ravensworth CE Primary School ditched the objects most associated with ‘Red Nose Day’ as part of their commitment to reducing unnecessary plastic waste.

The school’s council decided the red noses were “bad for the environment” and would simply end up at a landfill site, so asked pupils to paint their noses red instead and bring in a donation.

And the children did just that and threw themselves into their fundraising efforts which eventually saw the school collect a fantastic XXX for Comic Relief funds.

Other schools across the area also joined in the Red Nose Day fun, with pupils and staff at Dean Barwick Primary School in Witherslack organising various events including children paying to have their portrait painted in one minute by ‘expert’ five-year-old artists, a ‘Guess the Name of the Alien’ competition and a photo-booth for dressing up with friends.

The kids and staff at Kendal’s Castle Park School raised an incredible £840, the highlight being a ‘gunge the teachers’ event.

This involved pupils paying 50p to vote on which unfortunate members of staff they wanted to drenched in porridge, custard, spaghetti, tomato sauce or even cold mushy peas.

The five teachers who topped the poll were then ‘gunged’ as the pupils roared their approval.

Meanwhile, children at Selside School raised a massive £118 by dressing in red and holding a ‘Comic Relief Cafe’ to which the whole community were invited.

And over at Lindale CE Primary School, the pupils dressed up and had a cake sale to raise money.

Many other groups and organisations also did their bit, Westmorland Homecare raising a fabulous £147.34 by selling a selection of home made cakes.