history

In 1867, in a bar somewhere in Edinburgh, a group of Edinburgh University students got together and made a plan to do something about the conditions of abject poverty that surrounded the university.

They organised a collection of old clothes or rags from the wealthier parts of the city to help the poor and needy survive the winter months. This was the first student ‘Rag’. Since then ‘Rag’ has spread to almost every university and college in the UK, and has even reached as far a field as South Africa.

Throughout the last 138 years, many groups of students have got together and hatched a variety of plans to raise funds for local, national and international issues. Whether it is through a sponsored sit in a bath of baked beans or a street collection, students now volunteer to fundraise for charity in a wide variety of ways.