Crazy RAG week a great success
With another year drawing to a close for ICU RAG, it's time to step back, take off our crazy costumes, count up and look over the year's fundraising efforts. Even though the main RAG week was in February, work began in earnest at the beginning of the academic year. Several collections, a bar night, cloakrooms and a sponsored barefoot walk raised over £1,500 before RAG week.
RAG week itself got off to a flying start on 13 February with the launch of hundreds of helium balloons from the Queen's Lawn, along with doughnut sales and collections across campus. All in all, we sold a total of 346 entries to the Balloon Race, of which over 20 have been returned, with one travelling over 90 miles before being found. A total of £346 was thus raised for Barnardo's, and over £500 was raised on the day as a whole. The race was kindly sponsored by Accenture, who we must thank wholeheartedly for all their help at the launch event.
The folks at PSU were kind enough to organise a set of Tours up the Queen's Tower during RAG week. This was one of the rare occasions that the Tower is open to the public, and culminated in a spectacular view out over London from the Tower's Viewing Gallery. The Tours proved immensely popular, and raised a total of £821.16.
On Valentine's Day, the RAG Barbershop Quartets were out serenading sweethearts across campus with close harmonies. They raised over £130 for the British Heart Foundation and certainly made a few peoples' days.
Fourteen teams, 84 students and a host of wild and wacky outfits and antics? It could only be the annual London Raid street collection (kindly sponsored by Deloitte). This year's Raid (held on Wednesday 15 February) raised a fantastic £1766.31 for Cancer Research UK, as well as managing to get extra security stationed at the Piccadilly Circus fountains. The award for the most/ best challenges was won by Budgies (Pimperial), and the Cast of Casualty won both the Best Costumes and the Most Money prizes, having raised an unbelievable £470.05. A wooden spoon was presented to the Beit Hall Massive for being the last team to make it back to the Union.
The traditional C&G Slave Auction always proves to be a great laugh, and this year was no exception. Despite having to finish slightly ahead of schedule, a series of sales, fights and random collections raised over £800 for the British Red Cross and Spitfires Association.
On the Friday of RAG Week, six teams of intrepid explorers left the Union to parts unknown on the Distance Dash, the goal: to see who could travel the furthest without spending any money, with all money raised by the teams going to the Caudwell Charitable Trust. Some teams got as far afield as Sheffield, Glasgow and Paris and one team almost made it as far as Spain!
Organised by PSU and Life Sciences, the lecturer Fifteen-toOne quiz filled a rather large lecture theatre to bursting point. Some determined spectators even resorted to sitting in the aisles. This heated battle of academic wits raised a fantastic £271.20.
During their Picocon event on the Saturday, the Sci-fi Society auctioned off the honours of destroying a variety of dodgy merchandise, raising a whopping £262.92 for the National Library for the Blind.
Throughout the week, the CGCU Hit Squad was out and about again, causing mayhem across Imperial and delivering tasty cream pies direct to the faces of unsuspecting victims at a rate of knots. They even got the Rector!
Things didn't stop at RAG week; a collection during the Miss Imperial (womanless) beauty pageant at the ACC Bar Night raised £39.40. Thanks must go out to Sport Imperial for providing the prizes. After a heated contest, Miss Wales was crowned our new Miss Imperial.
Further information on the happenings of the RAG year, along with a whole host of photos, can be found at www.union.ic.ac.uk/rag.
