Leggit is one of RAG’s most popular challenges and this year was no exception. Students were given 36 hours to travel as far away from Bournemouth as they could using no money. So how did they get on?
One of Bournemouth University’s best-loved challenges is Leggit. It is a massive hitchhike over 36 hours where students have to travel as far away from Bournemouth as possible without spending any money.
Students make it as far as Europe and last year’s winners made it to the Sahara Desert.
This challenge involves students using the art of persuasion and ingenuity to hitch, train, car, boat and plane rides.
This year’s Leggit took place on 8 November and student’s raised a massive £10,000 for this one challenge.
This year’s winners were team No fears for Beers made up of Bournemouth students Emily Hogg, Jessica Saunders and Alex Sisan.
The trio travelled all the way to Prague, Czech Republic. They raised £266.35 for the challenge. The team decided to tackle Leggit because it looked like ‘an amazing opportunity’ and the ‘hitchhiking would be exciting’.
Each team member took away something different from the experience.
Jess enjoyed talking to the people they met along the way. For Emily it was the new experience of riding in a lorry but for Alex the best bit was purely the adrenaline that the risk of hitchhiking presented.
Emily said the team were very happy with the win: “We can’t quite believe it. Alex believes that it is a bigger achievement than us climbing Kilimanjaro so he was absolutely ecstatic with the result.”
Travelling without money is not an easy feat but eight cars, one lorry, two trains and one tram later the group arrived in Prague.
“Prague was absolutely amazing. Jessica and I had been in the summer whilst interailling but it was so great to show Alex all the sights- we called it ‘Prague in one day’ and he loved it so much. He was a massive tourist and took photos of all the buildings which we found fun.”
However it was not all plain sailing. Emily adds. “We got stuck in Cologne for eight hours which which wasn’t fun and set us back quite a bit and we nearly gave up and booked a flight out of there.”
However they continued and went on the win the Leggit prize. “We all think fundraising is an extremely important thing in society. The hardest part is choosing where to give your money as there are so many incredible causes out there that all need help and support.”
Team Babs, Chaps and Flaps, made up of Bournemouth University students David Hennessey, Darren Wade, and Charlie Armitage made it as far as Bruges, Belgium.
They raised £285 in total and took part in Leggit because they wanted to travel to Europe while raising money for a good cause.
The boys enjoyed the hitchhiking most because: “Some of the people we came across were crazy. The first person who picked us up started telling us stuff that made us worried like ‘I haven’t got a license’ and ‘this isn’t my car’ and started smoking weed while driving. So let’s say we were quite scared for our lives at that point.”
The boys ended up sleeping on a hotel floor in Bruges as most of the hostels were closed due to a bank holiday.
However being in Bruges made up for it. “Belgium is such a beautiful place with cathedrals everywhere and small little cobbled streets with authentic shops.”
However for group ‘The Long Run’ formed by Lizzie Carrington, Jess Harris and Lydia Smith, Leggit was about experiencing new thrills while raising money.
“We had heard some exciting stories from previous years, and really wanted to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. This definitely did the trick.” The girls raised £400 and made it to Berlin, Germany, which they loved. “
The atmosphere was electric as we caught the city in the middle of celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down.” The girls feel fundraising is very important and would like to take part in further activities in the future. “RAG is a perfect example how of passion, enthusiasm and hard work can achieve such impressive results that can truly make a difference. Fundraising is extremely important, especially for a small local charity as they rely on generosity so much - it’s our responsibility to do all we can for those in need.”
To see more pictures from this year’s Leggit visit the SUBU Facebook page at www.facebook.