Medic RAG week raises over £20,000

Last week hundreds of Imperial’s medical students raised £23,000 for St Mary’s Hospital Paediatric Department in a series of events as part of their annual RAG week.

The biggest event of the week was the traditional ‘Circle Line’ pub crawl and charity collect, attended by over 500 medical students and alumni. The final years were the best represented year group – some quick to boast that they had completed every Circle line crawl since freshers. The event is considered a rite of passage by the student body – with students armed with collection buckets racing each other to make it back to the Reynolds with the most money.

The lengths medical students go to in order to raise money in the name of a good cause was tested on Wednesday in ‘RAG Invasion’. Students were sent on a series of challenges around London - including a (freezing) dip in the Serpentine, and the hijacking of street performances at Covent Garden. As usual, the challenges were met with admirable enthusiasm, with the freshers participating en masse and raising over £3,000 for charity.

Tuesday saw the most chilled out night Reynolds has (probably) ever seen, with medics from St Georges competing against ICSM students in ‘Battle of the Bands’, a night of live music (but distinct lack of healthy rivalry, due to the lack of Georges students in attendance.) The relaxed atmosphere was a welcome break for attendees after the escapades of ‘RAG Games’ the previous night, however, the poor turnout was none the less a pity given the considerable talent of the acts.

The medical school has once again proved its students are philanthropic and enthusiastic about raising money for a fantastic cause. The RAG committee should be congratulated for their brilliant organisation of a week that raised a substantial amount of money for a leading department of paediatric care within the Imperial NHS Trust.