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Sport Relief raises over £40m, with big chunk going to coronavirus care

Sport Relief

BBC Sport Relief, which was broadcast live from MediaCityUK on Friday night, has raised more than £40m – and a significant portion will go to those affected by the coronavirus.

The biennial charity event raised £40,540,355 by the end of its live broadcast, exceeding the £38,195,278 raised in 2018. The money goes to good causes in both the UK and abroad.

At the start of the show, host Gary Lineker warned we were living in “unprecedented times”, while co-host Paddy McGuinness paid tribute to Caroline Flack, who took her own life last month.

Flack, 40, had worked with both Sport Relief and Comic Relief and McGuinness said: “She will be greatly missed by us all. We send all of our love to her family.”

A performance by Rita Ora was due to be followed by an intergenerational choir from Wales, with elderly singers teaming up with schoolchildren, but it was decided that the older performers would stay in Wales as a precaution against the coronavirus.

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