Today marks a milestone for the BBC’s Comic Relief spectacular, with it taking place for the 35th time.

The first live fundraising event took place on April 4, 1986.

The extravaganza had been founded the previous year by comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the famine in Ethiopia.

In the three-and-a-half decades since, Comic Relief has raised more than £1.4billion for good causes across the UK and Africa.

The event has been well supported by kind-hearted people from across Southend, Basildon and Castle Point. We have dipped into our archive to pick out ten of our favourite snaps from the past decade.

They range from celebrities getting involved to a resident sitting in horse manure.

Red noses blocking the smell - Lisa Hawkins raised funds by sitting in horse manure at Wickfords Dollymans Farm in 2012

Red noses blocking the smell - Lisa Hawkins raised funds by sitting in horse manure at Wickford's Dollymans Farm in 2012

Messy - Tom Wright, a department manager at the Eastmayne branch of Sainsburys, got cream thrown at his face by customers

Messy - Tom Wright, a department manager at the Eastmayne branch of Sainsbury's, got cream thrown at his face by customers

In conversation - Kara Tointon and fellow Essex star Olly Murs during the gruelling Comic Relief trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011

In conversation - Kara Tointon and fellow Essex star Olly Murs during the gruelling Comic Relief trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011

We have a winner - Sir David Amess picks the triumpant raffle ticket at a hairdressers fundraising event in Leigh eight years ago

We have a winner - Sir David Amess picks the triumpant raffle ticket at a hairdressers' fundraising event in Leigh eight years ago

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Childs play - 20 babies and toddlers were dressed at a frundraiser held at Hadleigh Methodist Church Hall in 2013

Child's play - 20 babies and toddlers were dressed at a frundraiser held at Hadleigh Methodist Church Hall in 2013

Transformation - Michelle Bibby has her hair shaved off at Rochfords Anne Boleyn pub

Transformation - Michelle Bibby has her hair shaved off at Rochford's Anne Boleyn pub

Pointing the way - pupils and teachers at the King Edmund School in Rochford

Pointing the way - pupils and teachers at the King Edmund School in Rochford

Striking a pose - Billericay-born model David Gandy showing his support for Comic Relief

Striking a pose - Billericay-born model David Gandy showing his support for Comic Relief

Famous face - Lucy Kent donned a Gordon Ramsay mask during a fundraising cooking class held in Westcliff

Famous face - Lucy Kent donned a Gordon Ramsay mask during a fundraising cooking class held in Westcliff