While the current academic year might only be halfway through, Bournemouth students have already raised over twenty thousand pounds, with some of the money going to help people living in their local area.

The students in question are part of Bournemouth RAG; this stands for Raising and Giving, and forms part of the Students’ Union at Bournemouth University.

The majority of the money raised so far will be donated to Dorset based charity, Diverse Abilities Plus. With offices in Poole, Diverse Abilities Plus strives to improve the lives of all ages living with physical and learning disabilities.

Throughout the year RAG organise numerous events which other students can take part in. These include Leggit, an event which sees over one hundred students compete against one another to get as far away from Bournemouth as possible, without spending any money!

This year’s event took place in November, with the winning team managing to reach Prague in the Czech Republic. From Leggit alone, RAG raised just under ten thousand pounds.

Douglas Tham is RAG President, and says him and his team enjoy the work they do.

“RAG always enjoys working with local charities, and getting students involved with helping the community. It’s great to be part of something that we can see change in.”

Later this year the RAG team will be holding more events which students can take part in. Keep a look out of the RAG section of the SUBU website for more details.

While supporting local charities, Bournemouth RAG also donate money to numerous foreign aid projects. In August a team from Bournemouth will be heading across the World to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, all in aid of Child Reach International. There are also plenty of other events taking place, including a team of thirteen students taking part in March's Barcelona Marathon, while a climb of Machu Picchu is also planned for later this year.