CLONGOWES FOUNDATION

FOUNDATION 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

The end of 2019 marked the 15 year anniversary of the creation of the Clongowes Wood College Foundation. Those fifteen years have been an extraordinarily active period for the Foundation as it worked together with the management and the board of the School to renew and expand the campus and to extend access, through the Alberto Hurtado bursary programme, to the unique educational experience that a seven-day boarding school can offer. So as a way of showing our gratitude to our donors and to those that have worked in the Foundation before us, we have produced the brochure below that sets out what you have helped accomplish. These past fifteen years, from a time perspective, are a short chapter in the long history of philanthropy in Clongowes. The decision to create the Foundation as a separate charity to the School was seen as a way of strengthening the governance over fundraising for Clongowes. Irrespective of the structure, the fact remains that the operational surplus generated by the College is insufficient to meet its investment needs and so the role of the Foundation is to raise funds to bridge the gap. The Clongowes that we enjoy today is, in a significant way, a product of the vision and generosity of past generations. Going forward, the Foundation will continue to work to support Clongowes as it strives to school its pupils according to the best traditions and highest standards of Jesuit education with its focus on personal character and the contribution that each individual can make to society: the creation of what Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S.J., the Society’s twenty-ninth Superior General, called ‘men of competence, conscience and compassionate commitment.’ Joe Rooney OC ’79 Chair of the Clongowes Foundation

ALBERTO HURTADO ENDOWMENT FUND UPDATE

Thankfully the eighteen months have been kind to the Endowment Fund since its inception. Our initial capital was not committed to the market until the late Spring and the capital was committed in two tranches; this meant that the Fund avoided the significant downturn in European equity prices that took place through March and into April. The upshot is that the Fund has enjoyed a healthy positive return rather than a potential small decline. With some €1.6m in near term pledges the assets in the Fund, under the management of Goldman Sachs, should soon be close on €6.5m. While this is a welcome outturn, the fact remains that our goal is to accumulate assets of €20m, in today’s money. The ultimate objective of the Fund is to be in a position to fully fund some forty bursary places each year while maintaining its real value. It is an ambitious goal; but it is one that will be aided by a five-year holiday, during which no income or gains will be taken from the fund, and from some existing legacies. So clearly the Clongowes Foundation has much work to do going forward.

“THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE OF THE FUND IS TO BE IN A POSITION TO FULLY FUND SOME FORTY BURSARY PLACES EACH YEAR WHILE MAINTAINING ITS REAL VALUE.”