Entertainment

Richard Herring’s ‘polite trolling’ for International Women’s Day

The comedian has launched his annual GoFundMe page to raise money for Refuge.
The comedian has launched his annual GoFundMe page to raise money for Refuge. The comedian has launched his annual GoFundMe page to raise money for Refuge.

Richard Herring is once again raising money for charity on International Women’s Day by answering a predictable question on Twitter: “When is International Men’s Day?”

The comedian takes it upon himself to point out that the day does exist and falls on November 19.

As he does so, he is calling on his 225,000 followers to donate to a GoFundMe page raising money for women’s charity Refuge.

Last year, he raised £150,000 for the charity by encouraging people to donate as he trolled fellow users.

Herring said: “I was overwhelmed by the response to this piece of ‘polite trolling’ and the amount of money raised, but having performed this service for the last few years, I’m assuming that everyone will know when International Men’s Day is by now.”

Although International Men’s Day happens in November, it tends to receive the most engagement on social media around International Women’s Day – rather than celebrating the day itself.

Sandra Horley, chief executive at Refuge, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have Richard’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness and money for Refuge on International Women’s Day.

“The money raised last year helped us to continue to run our life-saving and life-changing services – and we very much hope that Richard will be able to raise significant funds for our essential services this year.”