Comic Relief turns 25 today – and fortunately it's showing no signs of growing up.

It's been a quarter-century of celebrity challenges, baked-bean bathing, charity bike riding and head-shaving, and Norwich has been behind it from the start.

We've been through our pictures archives to pick out some of the highlights of Red Nose Day since 1988, showing the wild and wacky ways that our readers have come up with to raise money.

And whether it's abseiling from church steeples, organising dress-down days at work or putting the teacher in the stocks – a enduring favourite – Norwich has been prepared to put in the effort to collect for good causes at home and abroad.

We've joined forces with the Norfolk Community Foundation and Comic Relief to give away £50,000 to community groups and organisations working in and around Norwich though the Red Nose Day Community Cash initiative.

Sports clubs, children's groups, community festivals and outreach projects are all eligible to apply for grants of between £500 and £1,000.

To find out more, just go to www.norfolkfoundation.com and follow the link to Red Nose Day Community Cash.

Since that first Red Nose Day on February 5, 1988, every penny donated has gone towards a running total that has long since topped the £600 million mark.

Of that money, more than £200 million has gone to good causes in the UK, and many projects in Norwich have been among the 10,000 to have received Comic Relief cash.

We've bought more than 66 million red noses over the years – enough for every person living in the UK today, worn two million Red Nose Day t-shirts and organised more than a million public fundraising events.

This year's Comic Relief promises to be bigger and better than ever, meaning that its benefit will continue to be felt by people in Norfolk for many years to come.

You can apply for a grant online at www.norfolkfoundation.com, by calling 01603 623958 or by emailing grants@norfolkfoundation.com The closing date for applications is March 15, 2013.