University of Pretoria students on Saturday hosted their annual RAG of Hope Day to raise money for more than a dozen charities, including the Siyanqoba Feeding Scheme, Cansa, Bramley Children’s Group, and Reach for a Dream.

RAG of Hope Day is a student-driven fundraising event held annually at UP’s Hillcrest Campus. Each residence, day house and faculty house is grouped with one or two others to make up RAG partnerships. These RAG partners then create handmade arts and crafts to sell in order to raise funds. The money raised helps the participants carry out outreach projects at charities or organisations of their choice.

According to Obakeng Moropa, Head of Marketing for RAG, “We expect students in attendance to foster relationships with one another as well as with the community, all while engaging in student-driven initiatives. We’re anticipating that this event will have a positive impact on the community in a manner that allows us, as students, to be proactive community members. The success of this event will lead to many more RAG of Hope Day celebrations for years to come.”

Entrance was free and students, staff and generous members of the public came out in numbers to support this charity drive. Attendees were exposed to fun and entertainment which included:

• Multiple arts and crafts stalls

• Live music performances by The Barcode Bandits, The Crooked Kind, and DJ Kamanda

• The Student Culture Committee hosted UP’s Got Talent

• CANSA Relay for Life – raising awareness for cancer

• Various food stalls

• Virtual reality simulations

• Volleyball, soccer and frisbee matches among the RAG partners on the rugby fields

• Box cart races among RAG partners

• Jumping castle for children

• Performance by DMDC and Revolution Crew

“The event was a huge success,” said RAG executive committee member Jeanré du Plessis. “We are happy with how it turned out. It was a fun, family-focussed day with something for everyone. We had around 6 000 people coming through the gates to support the day. I particularly enjoyed the craft market. There were interesting products, and the stalls were beautifully decorated. I could see that each residence really put effort into what they sold.”