Why RAG’s bungee jump event never took place
Earlier this academic year, Imperial Raising and Giving (RAG), had announced the return of their charity bungee jump after a hiatus of 10 years. The event, however, was postponed several times, and Felix can now reveal why it was cancelled.
The event, initially scheduled for November 13th, was postponed several times across the Autumn term, and had raised £5500 for St. John’s Ambulance Service, Refugee Action, and Al Sama Project.
The timeline of events with the union reveals a pattern of delays caused by slow responses and unclear communication. RAG first contacted the UK Bungee Club (UKBC) on June 18th, 2024, to request a quote. Throughout June and July, they waited for the ICU’s new event proposal system to launch. On August 1, RAG submitted a space booking form and contacted ICU to confirm feasibility.
A meeting between RAG, the ICU, and UKBC took place on 27th August. UKBC provided detailed safety documentation, which RAG passed on to the ICU. However, the Union did not respond to follow-up emails or any submitted documents throughout early September. The ICU eventually replied on 10th September, stating they were still awaiting confirmation from the College.
Progress resumed in October when the ICU approved the booking, signed the contract, and approved full payment. RAG began publicity and ticket sales. On 1st November, the ICU emailed College Security and Estates with the event information. Estates responded with safety concerns, including objections to placing a crane near a building.
The ICU passed these concerns to RAG and UKBC on 4th November. A site visit was scheduled for 21st November, causing the event to be postponed. UKBC later submitted revised crane placement plans which included introducing a second crane for the event. However, due to further issues with Health and Safety, and the Estates team, the event was postponed indefinitely.
When students who had signed up for the event were told, several decided to ask for refunds. At least five students had raised money for their own charities, raising over £200 on average, for a variety of charities. RAG decided to issue refunds and had begun to process them by the end of Autumn term 2024.
In January, following several attempts to speak with Union staff about whether the event could still take place, several emails were sent, however, the Union responses were late or did not arrive at all.
Following several attempts to liase with the Union across Spring and Summer terms, ICU finally confirmed the event had been cancelled in June 2025. Following a meeting in early June, ICU confirmed that the group would be refunded in full on Tuesday 17th June, almost a year to the day RAG reached out about organising the bungee jump.
Speaking about the event, a spokesperson for ICU said: “The RAG bungee jump was a complex, high risk event which involved liaising with multiple stakeholders to ensure that this could be conducted safely and meet a number of important requirements. Unfortunately, on this occasion it was not allowed to go ahead, and the group will receive a full refund. The Union is working hard to improve overall processes for student-led activities, and a review of this particular occurance will be undertaken to ensure this does not happen again.”
Imperial RAG have had several issues due to the event’s postponement and cancellation. Their events have had a drop off in attendees, and several members of the committee have been distressed by the event. Speaking to Felix, members said they “feel cheated. Student volunteers give up a lot of time, money, effort, of their own.
“If not the student union to advocate for us, who else?”
