Kevin Cahill, chief executive of Comic Relief, has announced that he will be stepping down from his role with the charity later this year.

Cahill (pictured), who made the announcement yesterday afternoon, has worked at the charity since 1990 and was made chief executive of Comic Relief in 1997.

In a statement, Comic Relief said that in that time, Cahill had been responsible for the creation of Sports Relief in 2002 and for turning Red Nose Day into “the biggest event of its kind in the world”.

Comic Relief, registered with the Charity Commission under its legal name ‘Charity Projects’, had a total income last year of £84.4m, an increase of £77.6m from its 1997 total income.

In a statement released by the charity yesterday, Cahill said he was proud of his achievements as chief executive of Comic Relief, which wouldn’t have been possible without the “enormous efforts of all the staff at Comic Relief and the passionate support of the wider Comic Relief family".

He also said: “I have every confidence that Comic Relief will continue to build on this success as we move into our fourth decade, and will continue to deliver cutting edge campaigns that help shape the agenda in the fight against poverty and injustice.”

Sir Lenny Henry, co-founder of Comic Relief, said: “On behalf of everyone at Comic Relief I would like to say a massive thank you to Kevin for his incredible work and commitment.

"He has been a truly inspirational chief executive and none of the amazing things we have achieved over the last three decades would have been possible without Kevin's tireless energy and creativity."

Cahill will remain with the organisation until a new chief executive has been appointed. The recruitment process is already underway.