UCD RAG Week raises over €18,000 for Pieta House

By Eithne Dodd | Feb 23 2017

RAG week has raised over €18,000 for suicide prevention charity Pieta House. RAG (Raising and Giving) Week took place in week 2 of term this year.Among the events organised for the week were tag archery, puppy cuddling, a FIFA tournament, a mixology class and a donut fair. The two main events were a Foil, Arms and Hog show on the Tuesday evening and ‘RAG Ball’ on Thursday evening.Campaigns and Communications officer Luke Fitzpatrick said “I feel that RAG Week went down an absolute storm. I can't reiterate enough the amount of work our staff did to help us in this event. David Burns our Research and Communications Coordinator for help with fundraising, Paul Kilgallon organising and planning all the events and Ger Byrne for designing everything.”Some student societies also helped the SU in raising money for Pieta House. Belfield FM, ran a 24 hour radioathon, LitSoc had a slam poetry event and four student society political parties (UCD Young Fianna Gael, Ogra Fianna Fail, UCD Sinn Fein and UCD Social Democrats) hosted a politics debate.Collectively, the UCD events raised €18,064.89 for Pieta House.“Last year’s event was one not to forget, Marcus O'Halloran and his team gave us something to build on” continued Fitzpatrick. “The emphasis on 3x3 (3 events over 3 days) meant we could focus on the charity and fundraising first and then focus on the events . . . The week was amazing, the turnout was immense, the support was amazing and students had a great time.”