What can I do to help?

When I first came to Bournemouth, I was overwhelmed by the variety of clubs and societies offered by SUBU. I knew that I wanted to volunteer as I had done it before back in Germany and I absolutely loved it. I went to the Fresher’s fair to check out all the different volunteering opportunities and societies dedicated to giving something back to the community. There really is something for everyone, whether you want to help refugees (Student Action for Refugees,) join the fight against cancer (Students Kick Cancer) or help animals (Wildlife Conservation Society). In the end, I decided to join RAG (Raising and Giving,) and in this blog I’m going to talk about my experience with it.

Hitchhikes!

RAG offers two annual Jailbreak hitchhikes: Leggit and Lost. Teams have to either get as far away from Bournemouth as possible or find their way back to BU from somewhere in England as fast as they can in order to raise money for charity. In my second month at Uni, I signed up for the Leggit base camp, and I helped to track the different teams to make sure they’re safe at all times. It was a lot of fun to see how far the teams had gone; one even made it all the way to Italy, and another visited my home town of Cologne.

Go abroad!

With RAG you can even choose to participate in one of their overseas challenges. For all of them you fundraise a certain amount of money that goes towards a good cause. You can choose from a variety of options, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, participating in a Gorilla trek and building a playground for disadvantaged children in Uganda, or hiking the Great Wall of China. Some friends and I have decided to sign up for the Uganda trip, and we are aiming to raise £2000 by the end of May.

Fundraising…

Fundraising can be a lot of hard work and quite exhausting from time to time, but it definitely is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. We have started doing bake sales on campus, and seeing how generous some people are is truly amazing. I’m very excited to finally get to go to Uganda and help the children, as well as seeing some of the endangered silverback gorillas in June!

Joining RAG was a decision I certainly don’t regret making, so if you want to volunteer during your time at Uni, I absolutely recommend this society. Of course, you could also join one of the other amazing clubs and societies.

Jenny Schwender, Germany, Scriptwriting for Film and Television