Student performers raise money for Oxjam

**Oxjam, national charity Oxfam’s month-long fundraising campaign, was held at Warwick last week.**

The live music and performance event took place in the Copper Rooms and Curiositea. More than a hundred students performed, raising hundreds of pounds with the aid of volunteers and supporters.

English Literature post-graduate, Ben Levett-Jaques, performed at Curiositea’s ‘Beats and Bars’ night. He commented on the unconven- tional setting: “[Curiositea] never really had that great a vibe but it really kicked off ”.

He attributed the event’s success to the “really talented people performing” rather than the publicising, which he described as “not that great”.

The evening promoted eclectic talents, and performances varied from Mr Levett-Jaques’ use of the ukulele and Politics and International Studies Hannah Wheatley second-year’s performance with cups as a percussion instrument.

On Tuesday Oxjam took over the live music night Unplucked at the Dirty Duck for more live acoustic performances.

Oxjazz’s Wednesday take over reached a bigger audience still. Big Band, Warwick’s Jazz orchestra, braved the cold and drizzle to perform in the piazza which had been decorated with fairy lights. Oxfam’s Vice-President Benjamin Clifford praised the success of the event, stating: “passers-by stopped in their tracks”.

The Copper Room’s was rein- vented on Thursday as BandSoc took over for a night of rock and metal. Friday night returned to a more mellow vibe, ‘This Many Boyfriends, an indie band from Leeds, played at Leamington’s Zephyr Lounge.

Whilst the event raised money, turnout varied from night to night. The final night saw just 70 people for the grand finale. Oxfam’s Ben Clifford deemed the success of Ox- jazz “[who were] spectacular”, to be his highlight, as well as the “energy and enthusiasm of Oxfam volunteers who had joined the society just the week before”.