ESCA initiatives net six figures for charity

Edinburgh University has raised almost £100,000 for charity over the past year, it has emerged.

Figures seen by The Journal show that Edinburgh Student Charities Appeal (ESCA) at the University of Edinburgh received donations totalling £97,734 from September 2007 to August 2008, matching the previous year’s high figure.

ESCA’s vice-chairman, Mark Ballard said: “In all, ESCA has had an extremely successful year and has continued the charity's growth from 2003. Over £97,000 has been raised through ESCA in support of a wide range of Charities locally, nationally and internationally.

“We have seen the number of student committee members increase and the introduction of a variety of new events as well as the continuation of other annual events.”

The University of Edinburgh is, in fact, Scotland’s highest earning charity, with an income of £438million per year. ESCA receives funding from the university but runs events independently throughout the year to raise money for greater causes such as breast cancer and meningitis.

The Meadows Marathon in March was ESCA’s biggest success: attracting 800 participants to run for charity in the city’s famous park. This event alone raised £40,000 for other charities, almost half of the ESCA’s total donations for the year. Mr Ballard described the Meadows Marathon as an “incredible success.”

In addition, ESCA also ran activities such as club nights and parachute jumps. The sponsored hitchhike to Paris was another big success raising almost £20,000.

ESCA were also behind the Red Cross Appeal in May 2008 in which they raised £14,000 in one week to help the victims of the Chinese earthquake.

Mr Ballard commented: “The Chinese Earthquake in May 2008 had an impact worldwide and ESCA helped a large group of Chinese students at Edinburgh university and beyond stage a week of street collecting for the Red Cross Chinese Earthquake Appeal. The response from the Edinburgh public was incredible.”

Iris Chang, a 2nd year engineering student said: “It’s really good they’ve managed to raise that amount of money. It must take a lot of effort and work!”

Others were less supportive. Adam Bergin, a student at Napier University was one of many students who chose not to participate in any of ESCA’s events.

“I’m not sure who to trust in this day and age,” he explained. “How do I know that the money will actually get to where I want it to go?”

Despite this criticism from some corners, ESCA are happy to have matched the previous year’s total as the credit crunch has hit charities hardest. On average, donations to major charities have fallen by 25 per cent.

However, ESCA remain optimistic about the future: “All those involved can be very proud of the year we've had and we look forward to ESCA's continued advancement and success.”