Forget helping people, you’re only in RAG for the free trips

RAG society says it offers members a variety of life-changing experiences to raise money and awareness to local, national and global opportunities.

This year the voluntourists can pick from any number of incredible destinations: volunteering in Uganda, trekking the Inca Trail in Maccu Pichu, running an Athens marathon – or stay at home for a RAG sky-dive.

But let’s not pretend these people doing something charitable here. Trekking Maccu Pichu or climbing up Kili isn’t exactly a necessity when it comes to raising money for charity.

Why should I bother donating when your priority is really just your own desire to explore the wonders of the world?

The cheapest flights for the volunteers to get somewhere near the Inca Trail this summer are £958. Then costs spiral: travel vaccinations, extortionate travel insurance, accommodation – there’s a huge price to pay when doing something as adventurous as this.

I wouldn’t fund someone’s indulgent trip around the globe, but would I cream pie a few middle-class voluntourists in the face for a couple quid. This would be more entertaining and completely free of charge (aside from the cost of the cream pies).

Put like this, is an expensive sky-dive or mountain climb really going to persuade people to donate any more money than if you carried out something for free?

Recently the Rowing Club did something different and carried out a 48 hour row to raise money. It cost nothing, yet the society raised over £2,000 for Doctors without Borders.

Lucas Letellier, the society’s charity and events officer, said: “People appreciate that we put a lot of effort in ourselves rather than just shaking a bucket. If you put the time in, and you’re dedicated, you’ll get the results.” I completely understand this argument, but does the ‘effort’ really have to be your £2,000 trip up Kilimanjaro?

In this context, it doesn’t matter if you run a marathon in Athens or London – people would still donate. Add in the fact that some academics say charitable adventures do more harm than good because welathy volunteers take up local jobs, and that trip to Uganda to build playgrounds looks more and more like an increasingly inefficient and indulgent luxury.

I concede the big trips make the most of the money RAG brings in. But if the volunteers put in the same amount of effort towards domestic help, as they do towards paying for their holidays, they’d probably receive a similar amount of donations.

I’m not saying that RAG doesn’t do any good for charity. I just don’t see why the volunteers don’t use the skills they have and put them to better use. Instead of doing a duff job in a playground in Africa, why not expand the number of pro-bono schemes at Warwick (which students are so desperate to get involved with)?

If your priority is really helping people in need, don’t trek the Inca Trail. Use your scientific, legal and consultancy skills for the good. In the globalised, technological world we live in, you don’t need to travel abroad to help people – you can do so much for those overseas with the internet alone.

Every year young westerners travel the globe to search for “meaningful” volunteer experiences but just think how much more money could be raised for charities if most of the money wasn’t funding the “needs” of students desperate to fund their summer travels.

Anyone planning on going on an expensive trip abroad should ask themselves what’s more important: raising money for the Meningitis Research Foundation or travelling to South America to climb one of the breath-taking summits?