History

The name RAGweek comes from the word ‘rags’. Around 1900, some English students thought that they should do something for the poor. Because of this they wrote poems on rags and sold them. This initiative has grown into a tradition in which English University towns together annually collect more than half a million pounds for charity. In 2000 the RAGweek was organised for the first time in the Netherlands by students of Maastricht. Utrecht followed in 2005 and in 2008 the first RAGweek was organised in Nijmegen. Nowadays it is also said that the letters ‘RAG’ stand for ‘Raise and Give’.