Santa came early to DCU on Thursday December 6th with the Little Christmas fair organised by the DCU Saint Vincent de Paul and Raising And Giving (RAG) societies.
Santa’s Grotto was among the attractions in the Old Bar. Other societies involved included the Media Production Society, DJ Society and Foodie Society.
RAG Soc sold candy canes which could be delivered to recipients on campus. These were to raise money for Operation Paint Ballymun, a RAG project which gets volunteers to do arts and crafts with the Aisling Project, an after school club for disadvantaged children in the area. The candy canes were coupled with gift cards designed by children in the project.
Students were able to Wish Upon A Ribbon by tying a ribbon to a Christmas tree after making a small donation.
Co-chair of DCU SVP, Claire Healy said they decided to organise the event with RAG to do something nice for students at Christmas time. She added that SVP in particular wanted to organise an event on campus as “we run volunteering activities each week but if people don’t know this, they think we do nothing”.
Workshops on the day included card-making organised by Art Soc and Make Your Own Christmas Jumper with Style Soc. Tea Soc provided two special Christmas teas for this workshop; cinnamon and clove and cinnamon and vanilla tea.
Healy said the day went well though the event was “hampered a bit by the bad weather and Hillary Clinton’s visit but there was still a lovely atmosphere around the Old Bar and the Hub. There was a great buzz with people coming in and out of the venue.”
She added that both societies want the event to become a DCU tradition. “We hope to make it bigger and better next year. We want to leave it as a sort of legacy, as something that happens each year and continues to grow each year.”
All money raised will be split between the two charity societies.
Aisling Kett
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