Young people engaging in acts of charity and kindness is always great to see.

For many university students though, good will is hard to fit into their schedules – juggling their workload with plenty of partying is enough of a struggle.

The 35 both male and female members of the University of Gloucestershire’s lacrosse team, however, managed to do something special with their time.

They took part in ‘12 days of Christmas’ – 12 days of charity work – to help their local community.

“It shows that the students can give back to their community,” said Charlie Davis, the club’s much-appreciated community engagement officer.

“The members of the committee and I put our heads together to discuss it and everyone thought it was a great idea.

“There was lots of planning, which started in the beginning of November. Making sure our days were covered took a lot of time. Luckily, we’ve got a really good charity organiser at the university.”

This will hopefully become a university tradition, as plans for this Christmas have already started.

“This Christmas we’re hoping to do a ‘University of Gloucestershire 12 days’ so it includes more than just an individual club,” said Charlie.

“It will relieve the pressure if individual teams did one day each rather than it being one team doing every day.

“We have one charity or fundraising event a year. This idea was new to the university and isn’t something that has been done lots before.”

Charlie was right to put her faith in the idea, as it provided an all round good experience for the team.

When asked which event was her favourite, Charlie, who was present for most of the events, had a few to choose from.

“The SU Tea Dance with the elderly was one of my favourites. That was awesome,” she said.

“We also did some Christmas wrapping in the Regent Arcade in Cheltenham. This was in aid of Caring for Communities and People (CCP) and overall raised a couple of grand. That wasn’t just our club though! It was good to raise awareness.

“Our bucket collection and bake sale at Cheltenham Train Station, in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind, raised a couple of hundred.”

There was one in particular that stood out, though.

“Giving blood was the most rewarding.”

17 students went along to give blood but only 10 could donate.

This includes Charlie, Hannah Grimes, Abi Sparrey, Alex Bray, Kate Hayhoe, Ollie Chalk, Laura Box, Georgie Russon, Gemma Mainwaring and Scott Andrews.

But really, Charlie loved it all.

“It was all good fun and worth it,” said Charlie.

“It wasn’t that much as it was only a couple of hours a day.”

A couple of hours a day can still provide something very special, though, and it proved an amazing experience for the whole club.

They were also involved in bag packing and collecting for CLIC Sargent, a cancer charity for children, young people and their families at Morrisons in Gloucester among other great events.

“I’d like to give a massive thank you to all the charities that allowed us to help out, Linda Farrell at the university and to the team as I could not have done it without their commitment,” said Charlie.

Expect to be inspired by more dedicated students making an effort for their local community around the festive period this year.