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A Great Campaign
Securing Girton’s future through difficult times as well as good
2020 has been one of the most difficult years in living memory including having to close the College for the first time in its 150-year history. We have highlighted elsewhere the inspiring fortitude shown by Fellows, staff and, above all, students in coping with these challenges. This remarkable ability to cope with the demanding, ever-evolving circumstances of a global pandemic has been supported by the generosity of all those who have given, and continue to give, to A Great Campaign.
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Donations to A Great Campaign have underpinned the College’s ability to award means-tested undergraduate bursaries, hardship grants, and postgraduate scholarships. Philanthropy has funded Fellowship posts for worldclass academics, meaning that highquality, inspirational teaching will always be available to our students. Perhaps most importantly, donations have also increased the permanent endowment capital, providing a level of financial stability that has enabled the College to cope with this unprecedented year.
This year has been hard for everyone, and it is therefore incredible to be able to report that A Great Campaign has reached over 90% of its £50 million target. Now, more than ever, we are so very grateful to everyone who has supported us. Thank you!
As we approach the completion of A Great Campaign our current priorities are:
• To grow the unrestricted permanent endowment capital.
• To endow even more means-tested bursaries for undergraduate students.
• To establish one more postgraduate scholarship.
• To support all-round education through music and the arts.
We are within touching distance of completing a fundraising campaign that has already transformed the College. In this most difficult of years, may we ask for your support to help us transform the future not just of today’s students but of generations of students to come?
Where Excellence Thrives
Undergraduate bursaries and student hardship funding
Thanks to the generosity of our alumni and supporters we have now completed the endowment of 23 undergraduate bursaries, exceeding our target of endowing 20 bursaries in the anniversary phase of A Great Campaign. Thank you so much for helping Girton to be a place where everyone with academic ability can study regardless of background.
The need to continue endowing undergraduate bursaries, however, is significant, with typically one in four of our undergraduates eligible for a bursary. This is why donations to bursaries are so vital.
As these words from one of our bursary holders show, this support means a tremendous amount to our students.
The need for undergraduate student support is even greater now than ever. With the economic impact of the global pandemic continuing to be felt, it is vital that we can offer financial support to every student who needs it, both now and in the future. As well as the exciting new initiatives for expanding the support we offer (see page 3), endowing more bursaries means that the support for these students will be there, whatever happens. Many of you have already supported our undergraduate bursary appeal. May we ask you to continue to support the appeal as part of a Class Gift for your year, or to subject-specific bursaries, or to our general undergraduate bursaries?
Student Hardship Fund
Bursaries are only one of the ways in which the College supports students in financial need. Many students, particularly this year, have experienced unexpected financial hardship. In the recent crisis our hardship funds have helped students with fares for returning home, helped support those who are unable to return home, eased the financial situation of those who were relying on income from a job in the vacation to fund their studies, and helped increasing numbers of students access counselling services. None of this would have been possible without the generous donations we have received towards our hardship funds. We would like to be able to offer this support to every student who needs it, when they need it, something we can only do with your help.
This year, in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances that students find themselves in, all donations made to our hardship fund will be eligible to release money from the University’s Harding Fund. By making a donation to support Girton students suffering financial hardship this year, your gift will also help the students in the most need across the University (see page 8 for details).
Class Gift Bursaries
The response to our Class Gift Bursaries has been tremendous and this year we are focusing on completing the bursaries from the following years: 1970, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982 and 1983, which need between £7,600 and £73,000 to complete. In addition we continue to fundraise for more bursaries from 1958, 1985 and 1990.
Thanks to the generosity of two of our donors, gifts made to the 1970, 1981, 1982 and 1983 Class Gifts will be matched 1:1 subject to limits, doubling the value of your donation.
We will be looking to launch more Class Gift Bursaries in the coming year, so please do get in touch if you and other members of your year would be interested.
Where Originality Thrives
Support for postgraduate studies
Specialist knowledge gained by graduates is in great demand as many areas of work become increasingly complex. Our postgraduate community at Girton is growing to meet this demand, and this expansion will position the College as a unique and innovative intellectual community. We want to enable talented scholars from a diverse range of social and geographical banding (including some of our own undergraduates) to embrace the challenge of completing a higher degree in Cambridge and at Girton. However, there is limited funding available for postgraduate education, which prevents brilliant students from taking up their offers, or applying at all. Thanks to your support we have endowed four partial postgraduate scholarships so far, leaving just one more to complete in A Great Campaign. You can help us achieve this by donating towards our Postgraduate Scholarships Fund.
Where Creativity Thrives
Support for an all-round education
A ‘Girton experience’ is not just about academic adventures, it is also about the opportunity to become involved in music, the arts and sport in a way that is only possible within a Collegiate environment. The health benefits and the social support systems developed by taking part in these extra-curricular activities have been more important than ever to all our students this year, as many have faced a more isolating university experience. Whether trying new things, however, or continuing existing passions, training, competing and performing costs money—money that some of our students do not have to spare. Thanks to the generosity of our alumni and supporters we are helping to ensure that the opportunities for students to enjoy and excel in their interests outside of their degree are open to all, regardless of their financial circumstances.
This year we are asking for your help to continue this all-round education, and we are focusing on music and the arts:
Music Performance Fund:
The College has a strong tradition of excellence in musical performance, with many former students having gone on to make their career in this field. Girton is also unusual among Cambridge Colleges in that senior members engage actively with students in performance projects (a phenomenon often restricted elsewhere to Chapel music). This high level of engagement is facilitated in part by our excellent Musicians in Residence scheme. By raising £5,000, our new Musical Performance Project aims to allow Girton’s Musicians in Residence to expand and enhance the performance opportunities, both vocal and instrumental, they offer our students. For many students, Collegebased musical performances, whether as a performer or an audience member, have contributed to improving their mental health, never more so than during the current pandemic.
Arts: The Girton College Art Club
In this most extraordinary of years, our students, Fellows and staff have been offered the opportunity to be part of masterclasses and an art club run by the 2019–20 Artist in Residence, Luke Burton. These classes have been described as the perfect way to de-stress from both academic work and other concerns that have been heightened by the pandemic. A fund of £1,800 will ensure that these classes can continue to support our students through the summer. Would you consider making a contribution?
The Harding Challenge Fund
Through the visionary philanthropy of David and Claudia Harding, Cambridge has an exciting opportunity to enhance the impact of your generosity. Gifts to any aspect of our student support initiatives—including bursaries, hardship, postgraduate scholarships, music, art or sport— will unlock, pound for pound, a contribution to a special University fund for undergraduate financial support. Your generosity will not only benefit students in need at Girton but also those in need across Cambridge.
This year the scheme is open to donors in four different categories:
• those who have not given to Girton, another College or the University before
• those who made their last donation before 31 July 2018
• those who made their first donation between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020 and whose donation supported an aspect of student support
• any donor to student hardship, regardless of their past giving history Gifts of any size up to £100,000 qualify and every pound makes a difference.
For more information please see www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-tocambridge/harding-challenge
If you have any questions about the Harding Challenge, and whether your gift would be eligible, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Development Office.
Thank you for your support in this most difficult of years, and for your generosity which is ensuring that, despite these challenges, our students have a bright future ahead.
