RAG week or DRAG week?

RAG week returned in week 7, bringing with it lap-dancers, serenades and hockey players in drag.

Last week saw the return of Raising and Giving (RAG) week at the University of Warwick.

In 2011, RAG week raised over £4000, with the society raising £300,000 overall in the 2011-2012 academic year.

Children in Need was the chosen charity of this year’s RAG week. Accordingly, several themed events were held throughout the week.

From the Pub-sey quiz, raising over £500, to the chance to gunge your society’s social secretary at POP! and a traffic light party in the Students’ Union.

Ben Jones aka Lt Rico, RAG pub quiz-ard, told the Boar: “This year’s RAG week will live up to all those gone by. There’s gnoming, lap-dancing animals in lectures and all of the usual deliveries.”

Regarding some of the reservations people have about the concept of gnoming, Lucia Denton, first-year Maths student, commented: “It’s raising money for a good cause, so people shouldn’t take it so seriously… It’s funnier if it isn’t me though!”

The _Boar_ spoke to Clare How, RAG week coordinator, about the week’s events. Regarding Chidren in Need, Clare said: “It is a great national charity and the timing correlated perfectly.

“We often raise money and then decide how to distribute it…but we thought that this year people might be willing to give more if they knew who we where giving their money to.”

Students and staff alike entered into the week with good spirits. Clare described how, after delivering an order to one politics lecture, the lecturer ran after the RAG helpers, giving them £10 for two lap-dancers to go and entertain the politics undergraduate secretary.

Since RAG week has now finished, Clare was also able to reveal to the _Boar_ that SU president Nick Swain was one of many people to take out gnoming insurance.

Coinciding with RAG week, several other societies and sports clubs are also running fundraising events.

Matthew Clare aka ‘Katherine’, mixed-hockey charity secretary, said: “[The photo above] was taken at our social in the Mighty Duck on Sunday [November 11] evening. We try to do something a bit different – turn RAG into DRAG.”

This is the third year in which mixed-hockey have dressed as the opposite sex in order to raise money for charity.

Last year during RAG week mixed-hockey members raised £1600 for charity and ‘Katherine’ explains their aims this time around. She said: “We are trying to raise £2000 for British Blind Sport. There were 25 members at the social, most of whom will be ‘dragging-up’ for some or all of the week.

“Some people really go all out – dressing up for lectures, the bus to and from campus, even time at home – others just participate for a few hours to help us raise funds. Thanks to everybody who has donated!”

Ben added: “It’s not just about the money [RAG] raises this week, although that is important, it’s about raising awareness of other fundraising too.”

RAG will be fundraising all year round for various local and national charities. Future events include walking the Inca Trial in Peru, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Everest.