St Mary’s Hosts 24-hour Meeting for Comic Relief

St Mary’s University College, Twickenham is holding a 24-hour meeting between Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th March, to raise money for Comic Relief. St Mary’s School of Sport, Health and Applied Science set up the charity event, which pokes fun at pointless meetings, to raise money for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on Friday 15th March. In 2011 Red Nose Day raised £108,436,227, which helped good causes across the UK and Africa. The event will comprise 24 one-hour meetings, 24 topics, 24 agendas and 24 minute takers. There will be a range of dress codes as well as rules and regulations, which mean monetary or humorous forfeits for those who break them. Senior Lecturer Rik Mellor, who organised the event, commented, “It’s not a new concept, the idea that people emerge from meetings at work and question their value; we wanted to hold the ultimate meeting that would make people question their attendance and involvement, but also that had maximum value in an ironic way – Comic Relief seemed ideal. We hope the event will raise lots of money for a fantastic cause and be interesting, funny and challenging in equal measures – for those attempting the 24-hours without sleep this will be difficult! Can we keep the laughs going and the eyes open! Follow our progress on Twitter and keep an eye out for live webcam links nearer the time.” The 24-hour meeting will start at 8am on Wednesday 13th March and end at 8am on Thursday 14th March, and is being held in the Waldegrave Room at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus. The premise is similar to ‘Comic Relief’s 24 Hour Panel People’, held in 2011. This saw David Walliams of Little Britain fame, raise money by taking part in a 24-hour panel show. There is a group donation page on the Comic Relief website, where all donations are welcome. You can also follow events leading up to and during the event on Twitter.