UCD societies come together for annual Charity Mixer
By Sophia Finucane | Oct 8 2018
The annual Charity Mixer took place on the evening of the 3rd October with Volunteers Overseas, the St. Vincent de Paul society, and the Amnesty International society. The three charity societies congregated in the Clubhouse for food, drinks, and mingling. This year saw an influx of new members for each during Freshers’ Week. At the event, everyone was talking to each other about what they’d like to see in terms of participation in the charity-focused societies this year. It was really inspiring for committee members to hear, and was great for morale to keep them hard at work for upcoming events.“It was evident that the on-campus solidarity between charity societies is always present as a support.”
It was interesting meeting the members of each society and learning more about what they do. The individual committees are so busy throughout the year with their own events that there is no time to keep up to date with everyone else. It was evident that the on-campus solidarity between charity focused societies is always present as a support. We are all available to back each other’s causes, and collaborate on events.The Amnesty society had a Photo Action Campaign during the mixer, which some of the attendees got involved in. The attendees held up posters with the names of the two campaigns on them. One poter was for the campaign to “Save PIKPA refugee camp”. This is a camp run by and for refugees in Lesbos, Greece, which is in danger of closing. The other poster was for the “Taibeh Abbasi” campaign. This is a campaign trying to help an Afghan student who has been living in Norway for the majority of her life. She is at risk of being sent to what the Norwegian government have claimed is a ‘safe’ situation in Afghanistan. The student solidarity, even with students who had never heard of these campaigns before, was heartwarming and gave a lot of hope to all involved.“The student solidarity, even with students who had never heard of these campaigns before, was heartwarming and gave a lot of hope to all involved.”
Each society gained new members throughout the event. The committees themselves mingled and discussed how we can try to better the awareness on campus of social issues. Social issues such as refugee rights, women’s rights, and housing rights. They also discussed how better to involve students in these campaigns.The Charity Mixer was a great beginning to what each society hopes to be a productive and fun year for activism on UCD campus.