R&G week - 1 year on

Raise and Give Week (R&G, or RAG Week) is always mentioned as a charitable endeavour. Every year, at every event on campus, there are white buckets jangling with change for the less fortunate, But after you drop in a few coins, have you ever wondered what happens to the money afterwards?The charities for R&G week last year were Marymount hospice, Pieta House, Surgeon Noonan and Rape Crisis Network. A year later, this is how the money raised in UCC helped out.Marymount Hospice- received €4000Marymount Hospice, located in Curraheen, is the designated Specialist Care facility for Cork and Kerry, serving about 600,000 people. They provide care for the elderly in the form of respite care, intermediate palliative care and continuing care for those with long-term issues. They also provide support to patients with progressive illnesses, cancer and otherwise. People with active treatment may benefit from short stays as they help address patients who need support with managing pain and symptoms in general.“The money we receive from donations is an essential part of our funding. While we offer our necessary palliative care services to patients and their families so as no one is excluded due to lack of resources, we only receive 70% of funding from the state so the fundraising money is essential to our existence.”Surgeon Noonan- received €4000From Mags Carey, Chairperson;“UCC Surgeon Noonan is a registered charity, CHY10103, run by 4th year medical students.Each year, the students raise funds, all of which goes directly towards underfunded rural hospitals in Africa.This year they will be sending forty six students to hospitals in Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Zambia. These students will then work voluntarily in the hospitals for four weeks.Students cover all travel expenses themselves, ensuring that 100% of funds raised goes towards the beneficiary hospitals.They run a variety of fundraising events throughout the academic year, including the annual Surgeon Noonan Ball, Grand Raffle, etc.The finance which they provide to these hospitals not only serves as maintenance funding, but also subsidizes larger projects. Examples of such developments undertaken with the aid of the Surgeon Noonan Society include the building of new wards, a surgical unit and the introduction of an HIV Outreach Clinic. Some hospitals solely rely on the funding of Surgeon Noonan.For those who participate, it is the experience of a lifetime, and has been an extremely rewarding aspect of university for UCC medical students for the past 40 years.”Pieta House- received €4000Pieta House provides free, confidential professional support to people who self-harm and/or have ideas of suicide. They also provide bereavement services for those left behind after a suicide. They are the charity behind Darkness into Light, where thousands every year run 5k as the sun rises to raise money and show that light always comes after dark. They now have almost 200 staff servingIn the last year, Pieta House have launched a 24 hour helpline, freecall at 1800 247 247. Their client numbers have increased, up to 60 people a day.90% of the funding for Pieta House comes from donations and voluntary fundraising, so the money from R&G week was greatly appreciated, as the €4000 raised by UCC is enough to cover 4 people’s full suite of treatment. Rape Crisis Network IrelandThe RCNI has many facets; they provide statistics on sexual violence in Ireland, work with Rape Crisis Centres where accredited professionals support and services for those affected by sexual violence, campaign to raise awareness and to end sexual violence and finally, they fight for justice.The money raised by R&G week over the years has helped so many people in a variety of ways, now it’s up to you to ensure the trend keeps going. The charities for R&G week 2017 are The Saoirse Foundation, (with any funding raised going towards the Cork Bumbleance, an ambulance for transporting unwell children between facilities), the Sexual Violence Centre Cork, and Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland.