PRINCIPAL’S WELCOME
BARONESS ROYALL of BLAISDON
Photo by John Cairns.
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o story can be told about this year without acknowledging the ravages of coronavirus. And yet the great virtue of belonging to a community like ours, with such stalwart friends, is that the story we tell is also one of hope.
Our ability to find hope in the hardest situations was evident even before Covid-19. At the start of Hillary Term, we launched a Crowdfunder for our new Somerville Sanctuary Scholarship. Inspired by the prospect of creating fully-funded scholarships for refugees, stateless young people and those escaping dangerously unstable political climates, 44 donors raised over £12,000 for this campaign.
well as Virginia Ross’ account of why she supported our Sanctuary Scholarship on p18. Hope blossomed again at Somerville in the Spring, when our brilliant new Head Gardener, Sophie Walwin, ran the first of her Gardens Live events. The response to Sophie’s gloriously knowledgeable tour of the gardens was so positive that a new Tree Fund was inaugurated the same day, with the beautiful new mulberry pictured below being just one fruit of generous donations from Niels Kröner and Elaine Lever.
Such gifts should always have a place alongside our talk of income and expenditure, funds and dividends. That’s because they are a promise to the future – in this case, embodying the determination of our The appeal was paused in March due to Covid-19, but the community to think support of several alumni and friends enabled us to close sustainably and plan the funding gap and fund five years of living costs. In a (or plant?) for those dark time, the amazing generosity of our leading donors generations we may Shahnaz Batmanghelidj (1975, PPE), Libby Ancrum never know. (1978, PPE) and her husband David Skinner, Virginia Ross (1966, International Studies) and Peter BennettFurther grounds Jones provided a shining example of the Somerville for hope can be community’s belief in diversity and inclusivity. found in the new partnership between Thanks to this support, our first Sanctuary Scholarship the Oxford India student, Marwa Biala (2020, Radiation Biology) was able Centre for Sustainable to join us this year. You can read Marwa’s story on p16, as Development and
Photo by John Cairns.
That is the true power of giving which this year has brought into stark focus. Against a backdrop of grim projections and oppressive uncertainty, the support of our donors has brought hope to our community, unlocked possibilities for our students and vouchsafed the touchstones of learning, research and fellowship for which Somerville was created.
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