WE ♥ CHARITY!

Welcome to the brand new website of The University of St Andrews Charity Campaign. We are a merry band of terminally underworked students fighting to end poverty, disease and hunger whilst laughing, cursing and consuming caffeine and alcohol in frightening quantities. We're so legit we even have a mascot, Rory McLion. You'll probably recognise him, because he's a lion.

This ragtag bunch of hungover students scraped together almost £80,000 in just one academic year last year (they even gave it away to a diverse line-up of charities. Let's investigate.

Activities of the Campaign

Our historic mainstays are street collections - a day out in a major city accompanied by bucket shaking and shameless flirting which usually returns a fabulous amount of money - and the deliciously scandalous 'alternative' beauty pageants; Mr St Andrews, which heralds the return to Venue 1 of whipped cream, bare flesh, and generally dubious morality.But what's tradition without a little evolution?

Mr St Andrews (after years of sordid development) is now the jewel in the crown of RAG Week, a festival of philanthropy, which this year saw a Jungle Bop, Catwalk Fashion Show, Silent Rave, Comedy Night (featuring the Amateur Transplants!), Bingo and St Andrews' Got Talent. For more information, visit www.ragweek.org.uk

Traditions in the making

If the traditions you've got aren't enough, best invent some more. Race to Paris 2006 market a brave new dawn for the Charities Campaign as 59 students made it to Paris for free. Race to Paris 2007 marked a new high of caffeine intake as 174 students performed the same feat and somehow netted over £15,500 along the way. 2008 saw new and exciting ground being broken with Race to Amsterdam. We've heard stories - some of which are true - involving tactical visits to Belgium, nudity, police, street racing, Polish lorry drivers, Biffy Clyro gigs, surfers, overnight ferries to Amsterdam and something about the Managing Director of P&O Ferries.

This year in 2010, we returned to our roots, and had another amazing Race to Paris. And it doesn't even stop there. This year sees the dawn of two new major events in the Charity Calendar - a sponsored charity challenge in China and the brand new Dublin Dash!