Last weekend’s Sport Relief 2014 has raised a total of £53.4m so far, beating 2012’s figure at the same stage.

The total raised will continue to go up as money raised by the British public filters in. Sport Relief hopes to beat its 2012 total, when £62m was raised by June 2012. 

Comic Relief’s sport-based fundraising event, which helps change the lives of vulnerable people in the UK and around the world, saw a host of celebrities take part in sketches and challenges. Friday night’s Sport Relief Night of TV raised a total of £51.2m, beating the total of £50.4m in 2012.

Comic Relief's chief executive, Kevin Cahill, said: “We would like to thank the British public for their extraordinary compassion and generosity.

“They continue to amaze us and we’re forever in their debt. The money they’ve donated will change lives both here in the UK and across the world.”

The UK government has matched £10m of public donations to help create jobs, build businesses and increase trade in some of the poorest counties in the world.  

The largest corporate donation on the night was £6.5m raised by Sainsbury’s employees and customers.

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games, which was led from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, saw more than a thousand events take place all across the UK.

Presenter Davina McCall’s BT Sport Relief challenge: Davina – Beyond Breaking Point, which involved her running, swimming and cycling from Edinburgh to London in seven days, covering 450 miles, raised £2.2m.

Other fundraising events involving famous faces included a 26-hour stint on the treadmill by BBC Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley, and a 12-hour bike ride by Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw. Footballer David Beckham also appeared in a one-off Only Fools and Horses sketch.

Comic Relief was criticised in a BBC Panorama documentary last December for unethical investment of funds.