Every year, the Worcester JCR runs lots of fun events in order to raise money for three charities selected at the start of the year. If you have any questions and ideas or want to get involved, contact the JCR charities rep for 2023/24, Reyati Loro (reyati.loro@worc.ox.ac.uk)
Fundraising at Worcester
Early in Michaelmas, we run elections to choose three charities to raise money for and raise awareness about. Anyone can nominate a charity. The funds raised are divided between a local Oxfordshire charity, a national charity and an international charity voted for by the Worcester JCR community. If you’d like to nominate a charity, let the charities rep know!
Worcester Charities runs a bunch of fun events. Some of the fundraisers we’re planning to hold in the upcoming year include:
- A Christmas fair.
- A themed formal dinner for charity.
- Worc in the Park – a music festival with Worcester musicians.
- Selling stash items such as Worcester-themed sweaters.
- Selling second-hand gowns.
We can also hold one-off events in aid of particular charities (that were not selected as one of the three) if there’s interest in doing so. If you’re personally supporting a charity or participating in a charity drive, let me know and I will see how I can help you promote it!
Other Charities in Oxford University
RAG (Raise and Give) is the University wide charitable campaign (www.oxfordsu.org/rag). All Oxford students can vote in the election to choose the charities for the year. Previously, RAG has fundraised through events including:
- Raids (students collect money with buckets on the street).
- A RAG Ball, held in Michaelmas.
- Jailbreak, where students have to get as far from Oxford as possible without paying for transport.
Many charities (such as Oxfam and Amnesty) have Oxford branches – look out for them all advertising at Freshers’ Fair! Many will run taster sessions early on, and their activities vary but might include speaker events and fundraising.
Volunteering
There are so many opportunities in Oxford to give your skills and time to organisations that will value them – you can make a real difference as well as adding to your own skill set and CV. A lot of Oxford students donate their time by joining various committees for charities societies.
It is impossible to list them all here, but lots of them will have stalls at the University-wide Freshers’ Fair so that’s a really good place to pick up information at the start of the year.
The Oxford Hub, which is based above the Turl Street Kitchen, coordinates over 50 projects which students volunteer for in Oxford. It’s a great place to start (www.oxfordhub.org) and I’d recommend signing up to their mailing list as you get a really useful email each week which lets you know about opportunities and what’s going on in Oxford.
I’m always looking for new ideas or volunteers! Send the charities rep a message on Facebook or an email and let me know if you want to get involved!
