In a packed Islamic society (ISOC) calendar, there is nothing quite as exciting as charity week. Charity week is a fantastic initiative which first began 11 years ago, whereby colleges and universities across the country – and now even globally – raise money for one charitable cause, in one week. It’s a week which has the promotion of unity at its core, where students from all backgrounds work together to raise money in the most creative of ways.
Swansea University has been taking part in charity week for over 5 years now, getting bigger and better each year. Last year charity week raised a whopping total of £736,644, with Swansea raising over £5,000. Not bad for one week ey? Despite this impressive figure, we unfortunately didn’t manage to beat our arch rivals last year, the Slytherin of the charity week Wales and West world – Cardiff. This year however, the trophy is bound to be ours (A bit of friendly competition all in good spirit).
As I write this piece, we’re currently over half way through our charity week. So far we’ve ventured out to Swansea city centre for bucket collections twice, taking with us a teddy bear mascot which always works a charm with the kids, we’ve held numerous delicious bake sales on campus, the girls have had their pamper night, and we’ve had a societies quiz night – a first in Swansea charity week history! I personally have been involved in charity week for 4 years now, and the generosity of people never ceases to amaze me. From passionate, devoted volunteers who give up so much of their time to make the week a success, to those who donate and inspire us with their kind words, to the local businesses and members of the community who kindly sponsor our events. Charity week encompasses and brings to light the best in people, and I think it is this which makes it such a huge success year after year.
To mark the end of charity week we’ll be selling more delicious food and cakes on campus, as well as holding our “SU Splash” event – letting people throw wet sponges at our full time SU officers, all in the name of charity (thanks guys!). We’ll also be holding our annual charity week dinner on November 6th, so do contact us for tickets! Our dinner will consist of a lovely 3-course-meal, entertainment, a fantastic auction and more.
Charity week allows all those who have taken part to choose which children and orphan projects they would like the money to go towards. Last year, charity week funded several projects including a prosthetic limb centre in Gaza, and counselling and psychosocial support in the Central African Republic. This year has more excellent projects lined up, including access to healthcare and education for refugees in the UK, psychological support for Syrian refugee children, a mobile health clinic for slum children in India, as well as other projects for Rohingya refugees, and children in Malawi, Gaza and Pakistan.
We in the Islamic society would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the University for helping charity week be a success this year, and we hope to share with you soon our grand total for this year.
