The Biggest Contribution (RAG) Award is given to a club whose members have freely dedicated a significant amount of their time and efforts to a good cause throughout the year, and as a result the club has significantly contributed towards RAG throughout the year. Despite the year being cut short due to the outbreak of COVID-19, our clubs have made massive contributions this year, and have continued to, which is great to see!
The winners of this year’s ‘Biggest Contribution RAG’ Award are Men’s Football! The club built partnerships with local charities early on in the academic year, which also enabled other clubs and societies to develop similar relationships. The club noticed a clear lack of mental health support for the students of Aberystwyth University and wanted to make a difference. Their most notable partnership was established with Mind Aberystwyth. Their proactive and driven attitudes developed this partnership, to include multiple other sports clubs, all working towards a common goal – raise awareness of mental health, and support local charities to aid greater mental health service provision in Aberystwyth. Men’s Football established a united ‘TeamAber’ force, and by bringing together several sports clubs they managed to raising thousands of pounds for Mind Aberystwyth.
In order to reach this total, the club organised multiple fundraisers throughout the year. A highlight of the TeamAber year was ‘Sober November’, organised and run by Men’s Football Chairman, Marcus Perry, which saw many TeamAber members go sober for the whole month. They raised money through sponsorship, and by donating the money that they would have spent on drinks towards to charity instead. The efforts of this event alone raised a total of £3,500 for Mind Aberystwyth!
‘Stars in Their Eyes’ definitely lived up to it’s name, and was the club’s karaoke RAG event this year. The event was held in the town’s infamous Yoko’s nightclub, and raised a further £400 for their chosen charity this year, Mind.
The club set out at the beginning of the year to make a big difference, and they certainly achieved that, whilst at the same time uniting TeamAber in order to achieve the goals they had set out. Their events combined with some individual members getting sponsored to get permanently tattooed raised over £4,000 for Mind Aberystwyth! This enormous contribution is set to make a massive and much needed impact to the mental health facilities available to current and future students. Congratulations to Men’s Football, the very worthy winners of this year’s Biggest Contribution RAG Award.
