A campaign, ‘Together Against Wars’, has been launched to band together as many societies at the University of Sheffield as possible to create a video in an open declaration against war and to raise funds.
The campaign was began by International Business Management student Elitsa Georgieva, and features Michael Jackson’s ‘We are the World’, covered by singers from the Music Players Society.
Now, Elitsa and the Film-Making Society are looking for as many societies as possible to submit “memorable and compassionate” footage to create a video that will accompany the song.
Elitsa said: “I came up with the idea because I am sick of reading about people dying due to wars and beautiful places being bombed in the 21st century.
“We, the young generations, don’t want wars. We want to travel and get inspiration from one another, and I have always believed we can unite and say no.
“The University of Sheffield is our beautiful, international home that proves diversity works and we don’t have to fight each other. I want to represent that and use it to raise money but also remind people that they have the power to say no and they need to have compassion for one another.”
Once the video is created, the campaign can be registered as a volunteering project and start raising funds for the charity the group hopes to support, War Child, a specialist charity for children affected by conflict.
The charity the funds will go to will be confirmed once an application is made with Raising and Giving, only possible after the video has been completed.
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Societies can join by letting the group film a 30-second video of them doing their various activities, for instance dance societies would curate a short performance, or otherwise submitting footage to the group, featuring elements of peace, unity, diversity, and anti-war awareness.
On top of this, the group want as many people as possible to join together for the final footage, to be filmed at the front of the Students’ Union on 8 May from 1pm to 4pm. The video will end by nominating other universities to do the same, in the hope of starting a trend.
Elitsa continued: “Societies should get involved because we cannot stand to watch our future get worse when it can become better. I don’t think anyone wants their children to grow up in war, and even though that sounds unlikely, the latest news shows otherwise. It’s in our best interest to unite.”
