RAG events are the perfect opportunity to combine serious charity fundraising events with the irresistible pull of the inner fourth-former. For new students they're the perfect introduction to political campaigning and global issues in peculiarly creative ways. The more seasoned undergrads can dust off the green hair, striped pyjamas and pink tutus and rattle buckets of small change to alert the local community to the college Student Union being a Good Thing.
College and University Student Fundraising for Raise and Give Week
Just as an aid to creative thought, here are some of the plans being hatched in Student Union offices the length and breadth of the land. Leicester for instance favours the comedy night and raucous, irreverent humour which will leave audiences panting for air, plus a battle of the bands with the winner scooping up a valuable slot of recording studio time.
Cambridge is again sending students hurtling into the unknown with Jailbreak, which involves pairs of contestants having thirty six hours to get as far away from Cambridge Police Station as possible without using any money. The Antipodes are in their sights this year, following their victory last year of having reached Detroit.
There are slave auctions and snooker contests, and of course pub quizzes with the usual mobile phones secreted up sleeves for urgent talks with the brainy geek in the library, and if anyone is a stranger to the terrifying thrill of being shaved from head to foot then now is their chance to volunteer themselves for that very thing.
Inflatable Suits, Rubber Chickens and Flippers are the Perfect Aids to Charity Fundraising.
Further fun can be had by introducing events which by any yardstick can be considered to be three sandwiches short of afternoon tea with Father Ted.
- Inflatable suits are just the latest thing and hide all those unsightly bulges with - well - unsightly bulges. Five-a-side football or a rugby match played in bruise-proof balloons will pull in the crowds particularly if held in a rain-proof gym, and the winners get the promise of a horse liniment rubdown.
- Very few people know that rubber chickens are the perfect weapons. If there is a swimming pool available, secure an afternoon when a Rubber Chicken Bash can be held. Teams of staff and students climb aboard inflatable lilos and attempt to thrash each other with their own personal chicken so as to topple their opponents into the drink.
- Strictly Come Flippering is a night of cool moves, sassy dancewear .. and flippers. Crank up the gramophonic instrument, hone those tangos, palais glides and Austrian waltzes and reward those who manage to keep their flippers to themselves and stay upright. By all means invite the cash-giving public to bring their own flippers and join in. The more the merrier and they too can throw their hats in the ring to win fabulous prizes. Charge a decent entrance fee and let the glittering event begin.
- Just in case the urge to wear flippers becomes more attractive as the days wear on, consider a Flipper Race between one end of the High Street to the other. Best to advise participants to wear knee and elbow pads as the compelling urge to win at all costs can result in spectacular tumbles, but it's worth anything to get more pennies jangling in those charity buckets.
- The Living Dead Fashion Show at Midnight is the ultimate in alternative chic. Publicise this event throughout the area and invite entrants to wear their ghastliest costumes. Spin some scary tracks, supply bandages for urgent costume repairs and be prepared for oceans of Kensington Gore. Hunt about for some suitably gruesome judges too, so that appropriately grisly prizes can be awarded.
Whatever the plans for the RAG week, and these ideas will hopefully inspire more, there is no excuse for not raising money by the barrelful. So the events are wild and wacky? So much the better, and as Oscar Wilde famously said, there's only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's NOT being talked about. College and university Student Unions have a long and fine reputation for charity fundraising during Raise and Give Week and it matters not how off the wall the ideas are, as long as charities will benefit.
Suzanne Bosworth - Suzanne Bosworth BA (Hons) - a professional writer published in magazines, journals and websites, specialising in arts, history and ...
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