A Cause To Drink
Oxford STUDENTS broke university records on Monday, raising over £1,380 for charity in one night.
The pub-crawl, organised by student-fundraisers RAG enticed 80 students from 12 colleges to gallivant round the pubs and bars of Oxford asking people for donations. Tied together in groups of up to 10, colleges competed against each other to collect money while drinking as much as possible.
A team from St Catz, with four girls and two boys, beat off competition from rugby and football lads to sink 113 units of alcohol between them, while the most drunk individual, Sam Simonds Gooding, finished the evening on the ground outside the Turf.
Nine Wadham freshers, shameless in their attempts to collect donations, managed to raise a staggering £255. Two indecently exposed themselves for the camera, and Spencer Tapia and Ferdinand Koenig had a brush with the law when two policemen questioned them for 'unlicensed street collecting'.
Lincoln College will receive a special prize for the highest turnout, with 4 teams collecting £188.54 and drinking 151 units between them.
Rob Hoyle, RAG Media Relations, praised the Oxford pubs and college bars which took part. The manager of the Three Goats Head was less enthusiastic, despite having supported the event: "I think there are enough charities around without them coming into pubs as well." But she was quick to point out that there had been no real trouble, unlike the last charity pub crawl, which eventually led to the event being banned for twenty years. This year the only mishaps were a few broken glasses, some infamous intercollegiate taunts, and a missing collection tin from Magdalen.
Mark Andersen, RAG Sabbatical officer, was delighted with the result: "Everyone had a brilliant time and we raised an incredible amount of money for 10 worthwhile causes." RAG are keen to repeat the event, hopeful that it could be improved by being less chaotic at the beginning
31st Jan 2002