Union Southampton RAG raises over £165,000 in 2015-16

Union Southampton’s Raise and Give (RAG) is celebrating today after announcing they have managed to raise a whopping total of £165,194.05 for charity during the 2015-16 university year. The figure is a culmination of 12 months’ worth of student volunteering and fundraising events designed to raise as much money as possible for charities.

In a press release , Union Southampton confirmed the final sum and stated several charities will benefit from the huge amount raised by the university students in 2015-16. There are three ‘nominated charities’ named by Union Southampton in the statement, these being the Make-A-Wish Foundation (an organisation dedicated to incredible experiences for terminally-ill children), Student Minds (a charity established to tackle the issue of mental health amongst students) and The Red Lipstick Foundation (a foundation built to support families bereaved by suicides and sudden deaths of young people). Whilst these charities are the RAG ‘nominated’ organisations, Union Southampton says several other charities will benefit from the money raised.

Several events had taken place throughout the 2015-16 year both on and off the university campus, the most iconic of which being the annual Jailbreak challenge which tasks students with getting as far away from Southampton as they can without spending any money. Sponsored events like Jailbreak are just one of the several ways RAG managed to raise such an incredible amount of money over the past 12 months. When you consider all the other parts of the university that raise money for charity such as Enactus and the many Union Southampton societies, 2015-16 has proven to be an incredibly generous year from Southampton students. Back in December we reported how the Islamic Society managed to raise an impressive £4,000 in just one week and they were just one of the several societies to take part in fundraising events for various charities.

Team Effort: The Islamic Society were just one of the several societies dedicated to raising money last year

The ‘nominated charities’ for next year have already been announced by Union Southampton, with Action Against Hunger, HCPT The Pilgrimage Trust and Alzheimer’s Society being the focus of 2016-17’s fundraising efforts.