Wadham Borat Make Benefit Glorious RAG Bungee Jump
By Tim Williams
It doesn’t matter if Sacha Baron Cohen is too busy developing his new guise of Lord Monckton – Wadham College’s Alex Bramham is a more than able substitute.
Gracing the RAG bungee jump last Sunday with his male thong, made infamous through Borat’s Cultural Learnings For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, Alex has so far managed to raise over £285.
The events organiser for the university LGBTQ, he plans to split the money between RAG and the Terrence Higgins Trust, an HIV/AIDS charity.
His motivation was not just to raise money, but also awareness of LGBTQ issues. And although the organisers’ advice meant he couldn’t do the jump naked, as he originally suggested, Bramham ascribes doing it without “even a sock on my cock” to wanting to “feel comfortable” with his own body.
“I’m not trying to seem extraordinary,” Alex said, “but am just trying to show that this is something, unlike climbing a mountain, that anyone else can and hopefully will do.”
The RAG bungee jump took place at the University Club on Sunday, with over 100 participants, after its first successful run last year raised more than £8500.
Although one RAG exec did express worry concerning “possible dangers of a bungee cord and not much clothing,” Alex recalled that the journey up the crane was the most nerve-wracking part, and that the experience has taught him a lot.
Apart from knowing he’s a “grower not a shower,” he says he has also learnt that he “could and would do anything now.” And he’s even open to suggestions – anyone wanting to enact those wild scenarios they couldn’t do themselves should get in touch!
What about the walk to the University Parks? “Well, I protected my modesty and covered up for that part.” However the upside to not strutting through the dreaming spires with a firm bounce in step was the “applause when I unveiled.”
Even though unsure whether he wants the YouTube video filmed by his friend Jess to go viral, he urges all to watch it. Whilst Jess mentions “technical difficulties because it was the first video I’ve ever made,” the action, which kicks in from 2:40, still shows Alex’s “feat of bravery.”
RAG video director Alistair Nicholws recalled that other notable costumes of the day included a banana, a pair of penguins and a Koala onesie. The RAG committee, who Nichols described as “willing to do anything for charity,” all did the jump in their RAG shirts.
Alex urges the donations to keep coming in: Claudia Williams, a Balliol student, said: “A fiver donated to two great charities and a guy with balls (no doubt about that) is a better shout than your seventh Hassan’s of the week.”
“I really want to thank all those that came out to support me and those who donated,” Alex added. “Also to RAG – without whom none of this would have been possible.”
