Last month Imperial saw the return of Charity Week, an annual campaign organised by the Islamic Society with the aim of raising as much money as possible for orphans and needy children worldwide. This year the Week was held between the 29 October and 4 November, however some events were held outside of this week due to room booking constraints. Months of preparation and behind the scenes work culminated in a series of exciting and innovative events, including the now much renowned ‘Battle of the Societies’ quiz night, which saw over 20 societies fight it out to win the coveted trophy and all the glory that comes along with it (won by the Tamil Society), as well as street and tube collections all over West London which over 100 students took part in. The Week reached its climax with the prestigious Charity Week Annual Dinner, this year held in Hammersmith Town Hall, which was attended by over 250 Imperial students and staff, including the Union President Paul Beaumont and Deputy President Henry Whittaker. A massive £18,000 was raised on the night, partly down to the exciting auction (which saw a chocolate cake go for £1,250!), but also due to the generosity of 21 individuals who each sponsored an orphan for a year’s duration.

£46,939

Charity Week is a national campaign facilitated by one of the UK’s leading charities – Islamic Relief – one of 14 charities that make up the UK’s Disaster Emergency Committee. For this specific campaign, they operate under a 100% donation policy, meaning that every penny raised by students will go towards helping orphans and needy children worldwide (the exact destinations will be voted on shortly), without there being any admin costs. As stated in their mission statement, they allocate resources regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, and without expecting anything in return.

All in all, Imperial College students managed to raise a whopping £46,939, coming third after UCL and Kings (who raised £50,748 and £50,369 respectively), but considering that Imperial has nearly half the number of students that either institution has, this was a tremendous effort by all those who participated and donated, and the Islamic Society would like to thank everyone who took part