100-hour ‘MaRaWthon’ ends in fundraising success

Following the success of last year’s MaRaWthon, Radio Warwick (RaW 1251AM) successfully broadcasted its content for 100 hours non-stop outside on the piazza, to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

At midday on Monday 3 February, RaW’s DJs left the warmth of their home in the Students’ Union Head Quarters (SUHQ) to camp outside in the February chill and present their shows all day and all night until 4pm on Friday 7 February.

“Last year we ran the MaRaWthon and it was great because all the different shows could get involved.

“We had a few other ideas milling about but none of them were as holistic, so we decided to run it again,” said Robin James Kerrison, a third-year Mathematics student and producer at RaW.

The RaW presenters and DJs were able to broadcast outside for the entire 100-hour event. Last year, wet conditions rendered the electrical equipment unsafe to use so they had to move inside on the first night.

Amy Johnson, station manager at RaW, commented: “RaW have a fantastic engineering team who did a spectacular job of ensuring our gazebo’s structural integrity and our DJs safety throughout the event.

“I would like to thank James Owen, Jonathan Sewell, James Deane, James Van Hinsbergh and Matt Greenham specifically, who are usually the overlooked stars who help make events like this happen.

“The weather conditions themselves were not the best, with heavy rain and wind, yet the perseverance of our DJs and exec was heartwarming to say the least, as everyone united around a good cause.”

The event has been a success for RaW’s fund-raising cause. Donations flooded in at a massive rate, right from the beginning. Only a little over a day into their event, the MaRaWthon had already raised £473 – 47% of the £1000 target.

Hour 64 saw the MaRaWthon pass the 80 percent mark, and by 10pm on Thursday 6 February, the MaRaWthon hit the £1000 target, with 18 hours still to go

To top it all off, by 4pm on Friday 7 February, this year’s donations surpassed last year’s grand total of £1278.99, as it hit £1406.51 in the 100th hour of the show.

Yet, some seemed to overlook all the effort and goodwill RaW members have put into this cause.

“Possibly the worst part of the week was having a glass jar thrown at our gazebo by someone unidentified,” Ms Johnson added.

“However, the surge of donations and all the goodwill for the cause reinstated my own personal faith in humanity, despite some people’s attempts to dampen it.”

This year, the money raised is going towards another worthwhile cause, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. This is the only UK national charity working with families affected by the disease to give them vital support and conduct research to find a cure.

This charity is close to the hearts of the one of the RaW exec members, therefore the personal connection made the cause seem even more important.

Ms Johnson concluded: “I’m incredibly proud of all of RaW’s DJs and executive team for making the event the success it was.

“Our main aim was to raise £1000s for The Cystic Fibrosis Trust, however any donations mattered! Yet, we smashed that target still with a day to go, and spread awareness (at least among our DJs who also were not to aware of the charity and disease before) about Cystic Fibrosis.

“I believe we achieved all of our aims, and a lot more.”

Students can make donations through their Just Giving page here.