Raisin the Roof, Raisin Funds

By the time this article is released, Raisin will seem to many a distant fever dream. 

After a long day running around Market Street having food fights, kissing strangers, diving into the sea, and whatever other delights 2024’s cohort of academic parents had planned, many freshers were understandably ready to crash.  

While this year’s freshers were able to enjoy the age-old revelry of Raisin, their experience may have been tainted by the damages that prevented the opening Pier Walk from occurring as usual. However, the Fellowship, which promotes town and gown relations through fundraising, are determined to reopen this St Andrews landmark by raising money for the Harbour Trust. Their annual Raisin the Roof event is the perfect means through which to fundraise. After all, it’s been going strong for over five years, originally held at the Rule before moving to the Vic.

Roslyn Bates, the First Fellow of the group, shared some insight into the background and aims of the charitable group. Founded by a group of dissenting Kate Kennedy members, who wanted to focus more on improving town-gown relationships, it engages with locals while holding fundraising events to entice students. The flagship pair are Raisin the Roof and Vic Dip, but the group also hosts dinners and even plans to organise a line dancing workshop to fundraise for food bank donations. 

Bates, who has been involved with other volunteering efforts back home in Dunfermline, explained that the Fellowship is “such a good way to get out of the student bubble.” Although she has enjoyed her time at St Andrews, “meeting normal people that aren’t your age and aren’t stuck in the politics of the Uni is quite refreshing sometimes,” Bates remarked. 

“The pier is such a big aspect [of St Andrews life] for both the students and the locals, so it makes perfect sense for us to help [fundraise],” Bates explained, and notes that the group are already on the case. “We were able to donate £4,000 after Vic Dip last May.” There’s a long way to go though; the estimated funding needed to repair the pier has doubled from £1.5 million to £3 million. 

In the hopes of getting one more Pier Walk in my final year, I turned up to support, amidst throngs of still rather drunk freshers and their academic parents. It was at this point, feeling deeply tired, that I realised a key obstacle to Raisin the Roof. Having blacked out in the morning, many would not be eager to come out again for round two. Additionally, without a nap, going from a 5am wake up to the Vic eighteen hours later required real endurance. Luckily for me, I had fuelled up on Redbull and my fifth meal of the day prior to arrival, as well as having crashed and slept for three hours earlier in the day.

With my last-standing academic kids by my side, we gained entry quickly (apart from my son, who was turned away on account of his swaying side to side at the door — whoops). As the time neared midnight, the Vic became increasingly crowded by an impressively high-energy crowd, who pushed through any built-up fatigue. There were some technical hitches with the music starting and stopping, but as event-goers filled the gaps with spirited singing, it almost seemed deliberate. 

As an academic parent, after a day of entertaining, cooking, and hazing, Raisin the Roof provided the perfect way to unwind and enjoy a few drinks with the family. Expecting my social battery to run low after an hour or so, I was surprised that I was raring to keep going almost until the Vic’s closing. A particular highlight was the Social Club, which can often be a barren terrain on similar club nights. It was teeming with excited attendees on account of the excellent DJ, who played crowd pleasers from Charli XCX to more indie artists like Fiona Apple. While third-years let loose, freshers danced to get the final hints of alcohol (and Raisin excitement) out of their system.

Close to the conclusion of the event, the spiritedness of the room was still tangible. “Why is this the best f***ing night of my year?” one energised attendee shouted across the crowd, almost in disbelief. I was surprised, too. Having expected a low-energy, rather empty Vic, it was very pleasing to see that the Raisin spirit was still very much in the air. So here’s to Raisin, the Fellowship, and walking across that pier in September 2025.

Photo: Alex Barnard