OUSU Raise and GIve (RAG) Impact Report 2014/15

impact report 2014/15 One step ahead since 1991

6th February 2014

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Israelis denounce Israel Society • Open letter slams aff iliation with “right-wing” group Stand With Us • Society defends Zionist political agenda

RUTH MACLEAN BEN GOLDSTEIN

A majority of Israeli Oxford students have spoken out against the activities of the Oxford University Israel Society.

In an open letter written to this newspaper and signed by 21 Israeli citizens based in Oxford, the society was accused of being “co-opted from a cultural society to a hard-line political advocacy group” and of “not reflect[ing] the opinions of Israelis in this town”.

The students warned that if action was not taken to rectify this, they would contact the relevant Oxford authorities to seek to force the society to change its name. The signatories make up the majority of Israelis studying in Oxford.

Israel Soc deny all the allega-

The

THE RAG NAKED CALENDAR 2015 FT. THE OXFORD BLUES

Arts

Fashion

tions. A statement in response signed by ten members reads: “The Oxford Israel Society is deeply disappointed by recent polemics in the student press directed against itself and its president… If members take issue with the society’s core values or the way it is run, we do encourage them to stand for elections rather than attack us personally in the press.”

The accusations centre around claims that Israel Soc is taking a right-wing political line by affiliating itself with the American pro-Israel organisation StandWithUs and that free speech is being restricted within the society.

The letter points out that the Israel Soc constitution not only explicitly affiliates the society to StandWithUs, but also mandates the sending Continued on page 5 »

‘Not in our name’

An open letter signed by 21 Oxford Israelis

Volume 68, Issue 4 oxfordstudent.com PHOTO/ Robert Harris

Last week, Ariel Hoffman was expelled from the University Israel Society for “violating the society’s aims,” or otherwise said, for expressing political views different from Society President Richard Black’s. This follows a recent change in Israel Society’s constitution allowing the President to “expel any member who breaks the rules.”

Mr Black fails to understand the importance of freedom of ex-

pression within any organisation, and certainly in Israel’s political tradition. Under the new Israel Society constitution, at least 25% of Members of Israeli Parliament would also be banned from the Society for promoting a “non-Zionist” agenda as interpreted by Black’s leadership.

Indeed, Israel’s legal history shows a consistent constitutional commitment to free speech on Continued on page 5 »

thanks to everyone who helped us raise:

55 £74,140  events students

£5,000

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RAG BALL



 800

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 £12,000



Hosted 800 guests at our famous RAG Ball and raised £5,000.

250 people

thanks

In Love

rag blind date Matched 250 people up for a romantic Blind Date

just By letting our hair down movember Raised over £12,000 for Movember through

sponsorship, donations from barber shops, cake sales, speaker events, and dodge ball tournaments.

helped

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13

charities

 9

raids for 9 charities

£4,366.99

Held 9 raids, for 9 different charities, raising £4366.99 in total

 casino royales 23

RAG Casino

Ran the Casino entertainment at 23 different events. Including corporate and University Events.

Impact Report 2014/15

Oxford University Student Union

raise and give In this Impact Report you will find the round up of Oxford University Student Union Raise and Give's work over the past year, and our achievements. We’ve run more events than ever before, on a much bigger scale, and are incredibly proud of and grateful to all the students who’ve made it happen.

RAG is here to encourage a culture in which students are passionate about giving, where students take up the power they have to change Oxford through fundraising. We want to see an Oxford in which ‘RAG’ is a buzzword for positive impact, and for doing good.

Molly and Ruth

As you’ll see, we’ve engaged thousands of students, and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds. More importantly, we’ve worked with students who never imagined themselves being leaders, and encouraged them to step up and make a difference.

Thank you to this year’s RAG committee, to Sue Melhuish (accountant extraordinaire), Paula Falk (for all her sage advice), Daniel Tomlinson, Louis Trup and everyone at OUSU, and to all the students who’ve taken part in our events.

Molly Gilmartin, RAG President, 2014-15 Ruth Meredith, OUSU Vice-President (Charities & Community), 2014-15

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Impact Report 2014/15

what we’ve Been up to RAG hosts a really wide range of fundraising events, from street collections and Firewalks, to an annual ball.

This year we’ve held 55 events, run by a team of 45 committed students.

• Hosted 800 guests at RAG Ball, which raised over £5,000 • Held 9 raids, for 9 different charities, raising £4366.99 in total • Ran 72 student meetings to plan for 55 events • 5562.79km traveled by our winning Jailbreak team (who made it to Dubai!)

• Ran RAG Casino for 20 different organizations at 23 events • Matched 250 people for RAG Blind Date • Raised over £12,000 for Movember through sponsorship, donations from barber shops, cake sales, speaker events, and dodgeball tournaments.

4

9

raids for 9 charities

£4,366.99

Held 9 raids, for 9 different charities, raising £4,366.99 in total



Impact Report 2014/15

key events 250 In Love rag blind date

 55

Events

in ALL this year

people

Matched 250 people up for a romantic Blind Date

 800 casino royale

 students

RAG BALL

£5,000

23

RAG Casino

Ran the Casino entertainment at 23 different events. Including corporate and University Events.

 £12,000

Hosted 800 guests at our famous RAG Ball and raised £5,000.

just By letting our hair down movember Raised over £12,000 for Movember through

sponsorship, donations from barber shops, cake sales, speaker events, and dodge ball tournaments.

5

Impact Report 2014/15

inspiring students RAG seeks to inspire students to fundraise for charity, to develop students’ event planning skills, and to raise as much as we can for really good causes!

We want to see students become agents of change, and recognize the contribution they can make to supporting charity work in Oxford, and nationally, and empower them to continue fundraising beyond university.

Our committee decide on the events they want to make happen, and see them all the way through to the day of the event. They handle planning, branding, sponsorship, logistics, and ensure a great experience for everyone involved.

Our student committee inspire their peers to fundraise, and to take up opportunities to improve our community.

They organize over 50 events a year and connect with thousands of students. They fundraise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities every year, day in, day out.

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The team, 2014-2015: RAG President – Molly Gilmartin Secretary – Fern Lai Treasurer – Niamh Healy VP Events – Priya Shah VP Reps – Jodie Spencer VP Network – Skanda Rajasundaram VP(C&C) – Ruth Meredith

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THE RAG NAKED CALENDAR 2015 FT. THE OXFORD BLUES

Impact Report 2014/15

rag is here for the long run RAG is about making students into leaders, helping them realize their vision, and making them aware that they can do so much more than they thought. We work with individual fundraisers to maximize their sponsorship totals, with teams to build large scale events, and with team leaders to equip them to run teams, give speeches, and work hard.

Leadership isn’t just for people who want to be FTSE 100 CEOs one day. It’s for people who want to run charities, to cure cancer, to be social workers and lobbyists. RAG challenges students to think about what leadership means for them.

 60%

• On Average 5 hours a week per committee member spent on RAG • 24 event leaders ran 55 events • 60% of RAG committee members said that being involved with RAG has made them more likely to go into 3rd sector work after leaving uni • 93% of RAG committee members said that being involved with RAG had given them a positive insight into charity work.

• 2 RAG Casino Managers have managed over 60 volunteers

more likely to go into

3rd sector work 60% of RAG committee members said that being involved with RAG has made them more likely to go into 3rd sector work

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Impact Report 2014/15

representation and reach OUSU RAG works tirelessly to fundraise and inspire all different kinds of students to engage with fundraising. This year, we’ve reached more students and more colleges than ever before.



“Diversity of skill, opinion and thought makes everything we do more interesting and at the end of the day, more successful” Molly Gilmartin, RAG President 2015.

• • • • •

100% of colleges have a RAG reps 50% of colleges have an active student on RAG committee 86% of RAG executive committee were non-men 78% of committee members were non-men 53,051 people reached through Facebook

53,051 People reached

engaging with students through

facebook

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Impact Report 2014/15

the chosen charities OUSU RAG’s charities are chosen in an all-student election, meaning that our partners are supported and well-known in the community. We’ve been lucky to work with some truly incredible charities this year.

Our elected charities for the past year have been: KEEN, Oxford Homeless Pathways, Against Malaria Foundation, and 28 Too Many.

We’ve also fundraised for Macmillan, AIDs Trust, the British Heart Foundation, SCI, Kidney Research UK, the Oxford Book Club, Stand Up to Cancer, Movember, and the Autism Research Trust.

Next year, we’ll be working with Jacari, with Oxford Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Centre, with the Against Malaria Foundation, and with Student Minds.

WOW! helped

13

charities

rag and ousu OUSU RAG is a part of the OUSU family. Alongside our campaigns and representational work, RAG is a core part of OUSU’s work in empowering students to make change happen.

We believe that RAG is a major way in which students are encouraged to see themselves as citizens with the power and capacity to improve their community. We believe that having the opportunity to work directly with and for charities on local and global scales broadens students' understanding of the third sector, and what it’s like to “do something good” as a career or vocation.

RAG is supported by a whole raft of OUSU staff members, who work tirelessly to support and enhance RAG’s work.

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THE RAG NAKED CALENDAR 2015 FT. THE OXFORD BLUES

Impact Report 2014/15

thanks to everyone who helped us raise:

ÂŁ74,140 Oxford University Student Union

raise and give

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www.ousu.org t f OUSUnews

Find out more about RAG: rag-secretary@ousu.ox.ac.uk