RAG Gets Lost was easily one of my most memorable weekends during my first year at LSE. The absolute beauty of it is that you have no idea where you are going to get dropped off or how you are going to get home, and while every experience is different, you are guaranteed to have an incredible story to tell afterwards (and all in the name of charity)!
Not knowing what I signed up for exactly, my other teammates Lynne Sakr, Jessica Jourja and I sleepily hopped on to the bus headed to the unknown drop off location looking ridiculous dressed up as a hotdog, a taco and mustard bottle. Getting out of the bus, and walking onto Cromer pier, I came to realise we were a lot further from home than I thought.
After bracing a bit of the cold, we paced around the town, finding our bearings and trying to hitch a ride. With about 30 other people in the same compact city and very few people travelling to and from, it took us a long time before finding someone who was willing to give us a ride to closest big city – Norwich. After standing near the highway with our ‘drive through pick up’ sign we found an incredibly lovely woman named Liz, who came to be our biggest advocate – driving us two thirds of the way, calling up a friend to drive us to just outside the M25, helping us blag our way through the challenges list, even calling up national tv stations to get us on the news! She was easily the best part of the entire experience, and was proof of how generous and caring people can be.
By the end of the day we had: helped build a wall, got a free boat ride, visited a farm to take selfies with animals, danced gangnam style in a dance studio with a bunch of kids, convinced a whole train carriage to do the harlem shake with us, got a free pint and free McDonalds, among many many other things. While we weren’t the first team to get back, being naturally competitive people we made sure to complete almost every single challenge on the list to rack up all the points we could. Ultimately, we had raised almost £400 for an incredible charity, Papyrus, that helps prevent teen suicide and an entire day of stories to tell. I cannot recommend it enough, and if you are on the edge about signing up – do it now, you will not regret it. If you have any questions, get in touch with RAG on our Facebook page, and if I’ve convinced you to sign up, it is now live on the SU website under events.
