Calum Esler

If you were to tell someone who had never heard of St. Andrews that a small town in Fife had some of the best charity fundraising out there you would forgive them for not believing you. Yet, all you would need to do to convince them to change their mind is invite them to our Charities Committee’s presentation of cheques to the three main charities we chose to support last year.

On Thursday in the Beacon Bar, the committee and various charities (mostly represented by students) turned out in full force to present some above-average sized cheques representing some way-above average sums of money. Last year the three main charities we voted to represent were Frontline Fife, Anthony Nolan and Women for Women. In total we managed to raise a massive £73,726.35 for these chosen charities which was divided equally amongst them (that’s £24,575.45 for those of you who, like me, struggled to do the math). Whilst over £70,000 seems like a crazy sum for a small town of students to raise it pales in comparison to the overall figure raised – that is, the money raised in total by all charity groups last year.

That stands at over £152,000.

The Charities Committee took a break to catch their breath and celebrate all the good work from last year, but it really was just a moment and they are already looking ahead to the coming two semesters. So while Rory McLion posed with the charity representatives, I sat down with Charities Convenor, Jamie Minns, to discuss what’s still to come.

Now, the old adage, “quality not quantity,” may have some wisdom to it but this year the Charities Committee have decided on a “quality quantity” approach to the events they’ll be putting on. Though there will still be crowd favourites like Race2 and Catwalk, they plan on putting on more small scale events to attract a more diverse crowd and help encourage everyone to get involved. They want to target freshers in particular and promote the many ways in which you can get involved in the action, especially with the new sub-events teams. These sub-teams will be tasked with organising regular events as well as bringing new ones to the table, “keep your eyes peeled,” says Jamie.

Despite the EGM being held on Monday, there are still plenty of ways you can get started working with charities this year. The committee wants to represent the whole university in their charitable works so they plan on holding ‘open door committee meetings’ where anyone can come in and get involved in a brainstorm. Moreover, they want to help support individual charity societies so that even those charities which aren’t selected as the main three can still receive aid from the central Charities Committee.

If you’re looking for a more specific way to get involved then why not volunteer for RAG week? Or even as a UK safety officer for Race2Barcelona? If that interests you then you can contact the Charities Committee Facebook page or email them at:

[email protected] or [email protected]

Jamie was just a fresher when he met the then Convenor of the committee outside the Union and was convinced to get involved. “It’s the best things I’ve done whilst here, I think it’s made my time at St. Andrews. The committee is full of such a diverse group of people and if you’re keen on adventure then just jump right in!”

Jamie would like to thank the Sabbs on behalf of the committee for all their support and reminds everyone that nominations for next year’s charities open in April. But before you get ahead of yourself, this year we will be supporting Families First, the Scottish Refugee Council and Save the Children. So come along to events, have fun and give generously St. Andrews.