Jo-ann Hodgson has fun on campus in the name of charity.

DOING their bit for Children in Need, the university RAG charity organisation put on a Back To School disco last Friday, with all proceeds going to the heavily-publicised cause.

The event was held at party hot-spot Vanburgh College and saw students raiding their old wardrobes in order to kit themselves out in suitable school attire. Short skirts, bunches and original ways of wearing school ties were the order of the day.

As well as Recreation DJs mixing house and dance music in the bar area, the obligatory cheese and commercial R&B got everyone in a party mood and generosity flowed as RAG volunteers collected donations.

Everyone knows the best part of school was the games you were allowed to play on the last day of term. Not to be outdone, the RAG committee laid on giant sized Twister and noughts and crosses mats in the JCR, which students seemed to find ever more hilarious as the night wore on.

The Athletic Union played its part in the charitable proceedings by holding a 24-hour sports marathon. Each hour different sports societies played matches, while those involved in more than one sport slept on the gym floor. The societies, including squash, chess and karate, raised more than £600 for the British Heart Foundation, a total which well exceeds that of last year.

The charity-themed week also gave many the opportunities to face their fear of heights at a sponsored abseil of the campus's Central Hall, which even saw Student Union president James Alexander stepping into Spiderman's shoes.

With RAG now planning a sponsored hitch-hike around Paris, it looks as if the students have perfected the art of mixing fun with raising funds for a popular and high-profile cause.

Updated: 15:56 Thursday, November 25, 2004