The £78m raised during Red Nose Day's Face the Funny telethon on Friday night in London took the total raised by Comic Relief since 1985 to over £1bn.

Some of the biggest donations came from Sainsbury's, which raised over £11m through merchandise, donations and event fundraising, and TK Maxx which raised over £4m. The government also pledged to match the money raised by schools for Red Nose Day up to £10m.

Richard Curtis, founder and vice chair of Comic Relief, said it was a “very strange moment” for him, when donations passed the £1bn mark.

“When a bunch of comedians got together all those years ago we dreamed of raising a million or two, and never imagined the generosity that would be shown by the British public for so many years.

“It’s an extraordinary thing that we do in Britain and I’m enormously proud to be part of it.”

Healthcare was the focus this year and a team of celebrities, including Lenny Henry, John Bishop and Dermot O’Leary supported a local team of workers transforming a dilapidated clinic in eastern Uganda into a healthcare facility. Over £2m was raised towards the project, which was documented in Comic Relief: Operation Health and aired on BBC One last Thursday.

Comic Relief estimates that the money raised in the 30-year history of Comic Relief has helped 50 million people across the UK and Africa.

Kevin Cahill, chief executive of Comic Relief, said: “Reaching £1bn is an incredible way to mark the 30th anniversary of Comic Relief.

“We could not have done it without the generosity of the British public, the BBC, the many famous faces who do their bit and all of our wonderful partners, some of whom have been with us since the very beginning all those years ago.”