Imperial student volunteers raise nearly £7000 for charity in fundraising day

Nearly 200 students from Imperial’s School of Medicine spread out across London last week to undertake a variety of activities to raise money.

The School of Medicine Students’ Union annual ‘Circle Line’ fundraiser traditionally sends students around London Underground’s Circle Line seeking out volunteering opportunities.

Students volunteered for bucket collecting, running dance classes and bingo games in homes for the elderly and organising donations at the Pimlico Toy Library in Westminster.

Further north on the line, students helped at the headquarters for homeless charity Single Homeless Project (SHP), a London-wide charity that works to prevent homelessness and help to transform the lives of vulnerable people. The volunteers lent a hand organising and sorting donations to the project and providing support at SHP shelters in Kings Cross.

Getting creative, some students even rolled up their sleeves and picked up paintbrushes to decorate flats and homes alongside West London Action for Children, a counselling and therapy service charity based near Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where many Imperial medicine students will undertake a clinical placement during their MBBS programme.

Organised by ICSMSU’s Raising and Giving (RAG) committee, the Circle Line event rounds up RAG Week, where each year thousands of pounds are raised through a variety of activities and events each day. This year, sponsored head-shaves, an auction of prizes donated from both students and Faculty of Medicine staff, and donations from Union sports teams at their sports night fundraiser saw RAG Week’s donation total hit £14,000.

RAG Chair, Dave Ariyanayagam, said: “Circle Line is an ICSM tradition going back over 40 years. The expansion of all the volunteering and charity work has made it something that all of our students are proud of! It’s brilliant to be able to say yet again how successful it has been this year.”

“I’m really proud of this year’s committee, who did an amazing of organising it all, and grateful to everyone who took part – their massive efforts have really paid off!”

This year’s ICSMSU President, Rhys Smith, went on to say: “Circle Line embodies the ethos of the School of Medicine – it’s a day where every student can take part and really make a difference. Putting the spotlight on local charities, students really try and give back to the community through any means they can – it’s a truly brilliant event and we’d all like to congratulate Dave and the committee for a great Circle Line and RAG Week 2018.”

Further funds were raised through the evening celebration. Students’ hard work was rewarded with a ‘Final Line’ party in London, where tickets and sales of the Union’s official ‘Circle Line’ T-shirts added to the huge amount raised this year.

This week is National Student Volunteering Week, run by the Student Volunteering Network. Now in its 17^th successful year, the week encourages students to get involved and ‘develop their skills while forming key social action partnerships in local communities’.

 “We have another day of fundraising on Friday 23 February,” added Dave, “we’re confident it will be as great a success as both RAG Week and Circle Line – watch this space!”

For more information about RAG Week or the medical students’ Union more generally, please visit the ICSMSU website.