Calne Foundation Trust Newsletter 2015

The Calne Foundation Trust Welcome to the annual CFT Newsletter The year 2014/15 has been a memorable one for the Calne Foundation Trust. For the second year in a row, the Foundation has received record donations: these include cash gifts and pledges as well as legacies. More than 700 kind and generous people have supported the CFT this year by attending events and making donations to our funds; we are deeply indebted to them all. Gifts, both large and small, make a real difference and enable the CFT to support the schools in raising money for the various Foundation Funds, notably the Armed Forces Fund, the Bursary Fund and the Capital Projects Fund.

The Foundation has made significant contributions over the past 12 months to support Shaping the Future - the 10 Year Vision of St Mary’s Calne and St Margaret’s Preparatory School. Driven by the core values that unite both schools, Shaping the Future aims to identify the priorities for the next decade, providing the schools with the right

environment in which to teach, learn and live, as well as ensuring that opportunities are available to those from a wide range of backgrounds, through bursary and scholarship programmes.

The proposed new buildings which were announced at the Shaping the Future Receptions in the Autumn Term reflect the strategic priorities of the schools as agreed with the Governors, and there is commitment over time to making them a reality. In addition this summer, the school is funding an extensive refurbishment of St Mary’s junior boarding houses – St C’s and St P’s – and at St Margaret’s the building of a new drum room and additional changing rooms for KS2 has already commenced.

Donations to the Capital Projects Fund of the CFT help to bring projects forward or enable the schools to upgrade their plans.

For example, a full-size, floodlit

Issue 3 Summer 2015

astroturf and three additional netball/tennis courts opened in October 2014 (much sooner than anticipated) thanks in large part to the generosity of a small group of current parents and we hope to make further progress next year with our Vision for Sport.

Plans are afoot for a new school library at St Mary’s for 2017, thanks to a philanthropist in our community who is generously funding this project. The library will be the lively academic hub of the school, a place which will instil a love of reading, research and learning.

In the pages that follow you can read more about Shaping the Future, as well as about our progress with The Bursary Fund and The Armed Forces Fund.

Thank you to all who have supported the CFT over the past year.

Cari Depla Director of Development

An Evening with Rory Bremner Over 350 guests enjoyed a highly uplifting evening with Rory Bremner on Friday 15th May 2015 – a very special event in aid of Shaping the Future.

Drinks were held on the Sundial Lawn, with Prosecco kindly donated by Lupton Wines and canapés given by a collection of parents. Guests were also given a souvenir programme sponsored by The Week.

Rory gave a fantastic performance, entertaining us all with impressions of many current and former politicians, sporting figures & celebrities – including David Cameron, Frank Bruno, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Ed Miliband. Guests were also encouraged to play the Heads & Tails game, which was very popular and donations on the night raised over £2,000.

In total, the evening raised a staggering £18,500 for Shaping the Future, and we would like to thank Rory, our supporters and sponsors, and all those who attended the event.

The Calne Foundation Trust Charity No. 1147327 office@calnefoundation.org

Shaping the Future The 10 Year Vision includes improvements to the sports facilites for both schools to give all pupils the best sporting opportunities. For St Mary’s, future plans thereafter include the development of a Library, Art and Science facilities, and the building of a multi-purpose hall for musical concerts, recitals and lectures. For St Margaret’s, the immediate focus will be on enhancing some of the essential ‘functional’ rooms and areas, with a medium term target of dedicated Science and DT spaces.

Vision for Sport We are delighted that Phases 1 and 2 of the Vision for Sport have been completed thanks in large part to the generosity of donors. A full size astroturf and three additional netball/tennis courts were opened in October 2014. The school has also leased land to provide additional pitches offsite.

The third and final phase of the Vision for Sport is to extend the Sports Centre. This indoor PE space will be invaluable, particularly in wet weather, and could be used by the community in holiday periods.

It will enable us to broaden the range of sporting opportunities for the pupils of St Mary’s and

St Margaret’s, and improve and enhance the physical education of all our pupils.

for visiting teams, family/accessible changing facilities, a viewing gallery and improved staff facilities.

The Sports Complex will include: a sports hall (34.7m x 20m), an enlarged dance studio which can be divided into two smaller spaces, dry side changing rooms with showers

An animated illustraton of the Sports Complex, detailed plans and the Vision for Sport video can be viewed on the CFT website: www.calnefoundation.org/10yearvision

The Library On Founders’ Day, Dr Felicia Kirk announced the building of a new library at St Mary’s thanks to a single donor who has so very generously offered financial support.

The new library will be an exciting academic centre incorporating information management and web technology. It will be designed as a bright, airy, modern, comfortable, warm and fun space, free from the stuffiness that one sometimes finds in many older libraries. The library will instill a love of reading, research and learning in the girls, encouraging exploration and the pursuit of knowledge, as well as collaboration and the sharing of ideas.

The library will, of course, have a great range of books and journals, as well as a good number of online resources, so that we combine a traditional library service with access to technology, making the internet a big part of the operations.

Building will commence in 2016 and the library will be officially opened on Founders’ Day 2017.

Projects under Development and Consultation The following projects have been identified as key areas for improvement over the medium and longer term for St Mary’s and St Margaret’s:

Art School The Southwell Centre for the Arts

STEM Centre Science Laboratory Performing Arts Centre Lansdowne House - Kindergarten & Maggots Enhanced Support Facilities

where the whole school can gather to enjoy concerts, assemblies, lectures, presentations and career conferences.

St Mary’s Art School is housed in purpose-built studios, but the current space is limiting and the girls would benefit greatly from more space to develop their artistic talents in painting and drawing, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, printmaking and photography.

The plan is to extend the current building into the courtyard to create a larger, light and airy Art School which has flexibility of use. A mezzanine floor will house two separate studios which will overlook the four studios below.

St Mary’s vision for a new STEM Centre is a purpose-built facility for the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths for future generations of St Mary’s girls. Currently 20% of the UK workforce is employed in STEM related roles and that number is only set to rise. St Mary’s aims to educate girls to become future leaders in this area, to inspire girls to take on the challenges of the new millennium in STEM fields such as engineering, robotics, healthcare and computer science and to be creative, imaginative and bold.

the current Music Room and to build a two storey extension to accommodate Art, DT and Music facilities. Dedicated spaces for these subjects will enhance and enrich the pupils’ learning, stimulating creativity and development.

To provide opportunities for practical investigation in Science, the plan is to convert the existing Maggots Room into a Science Laboratory to enable pupils to carry out a wide range of stimulating and exciting experiments in support of their independent learning, resilience and investigational skills.

Kindergarten and Maggots (after school club) will in time move into Lansdowne House which The plans for St Margaret’s can will provide a real home from be divided into 4 distinct projects home and, finally, with around 200 The Performing Arts Centre will which will be phased over 10 years children now on roll, we need to be an environment that stimulates to take into account affordability, develop our support facilities musical life and imagination. construction sequence and and infrastructure to meet the Comprising an acoustically and minimising disruption to school life. operational needs of the school and our pupils. aesthetically impressive auditorium with 450 seats on two levels, it will The Southwell Centre for the Full details of the plans can be viewed on connect to both the existing Dining Arts: In order to meet the needs the CFT website: Room and Top Hall. The Centre will of the school, the plan is to extend www.calnefoundation.org/10yearvision offer a vital and much needed space the existing Southwell Hall into

The Bursary Fund Great schools such as St Mary’s Calne and St Margaret’s Preparatory School are made up of outstanding pupils from a wide range of backgrounds. Ensuring that talented and academically gifted students from all walks of life have access to an education at Calne is integral to the vision and ethos shared by both schools.

The CFT Bursary Fund now stands at £424,000 thanks to the generosity of parents, staff, alumni and other supporters. The parents of our 2013 and 2014 leavers were overwhelmingly positive about supporting the Bursary Fund, and gifts - both large and small - soon added up and made a huge difference. As a direct result of their generosity, we have been able to offer limited bursary support to bright students from all walks of life.

The Helen Wright Bursary Fund Dr Wright and the CFT are immensely grateful to parents and teachers who donated to the Helen Wright Bursary Fund

(HWBF), recognising

Dr Wright’s

contribution

to

St Mary’s as Headmistress over the course of almost a decade.

Dr Wright’s particular intentions lay in developing leadership skills and supporting young people who could not otherwise benefit from the education on offer at St Mary’s. To this end, the Trustees, with Dr Wright’s approval, propose incorporating the funds currently in the HWBF into the CFT Bursary Fund. This fund has benefited over the years from other generous gifts, for example the Old Girls’ own charitable fund and The Matthews Bursary Fund. We continue to work on building up this capital fund for bursaries which in time will allow us to fund means-tested bursaries out of income. Helen Wright Scholarships will be awarded periodically to Sixth Form girls demonstrating exceptional leadership potential to enable them to embark on leadership/personal development projects.

The Gabriel Scholarship – A gift from the Leavers The parents of St Mary’s 2015 leavers have joined the parents of the 2014 and 2013 leavers in raising money for the Bursary Fund to enable the school to award ‘Gabriel Scholarships’ to talented girls who would not otherwise be able to attend St Mary’s. Elinor Gabriel, one of the Founders of St Mary’s, was passionate about providing girls with a first-class education, and her vision still prevails today.

The names of families who make a donation will be recorded in our Donors’ Book and they will become members of The Gabriel Society which has recently been established to thank everyone who has made a gift to the Bursary Fund. A special event will be held for Gabriel Society members biennially to enable us to show them our appreciation. If you would like to join The Gabriel Society, please contact Mrs Cari Depla (cari.depla@stmaryscalne.org).

What St Mary’s meant to me

I came to Calne for Sixth Form in 2010, having previously attended a state school.

I loved it from the very first day - the girls and house staff were friendly and welcoming, and I felt settled in no time.

Calne gave me some amazing experiences during my time here. Academically, I finally felt like I was being challenged at school and, under the instruction and support of my teachers, I managed to secure a place at Oxford. Socially, I did so many things I never thought I’d be able to do: I played in orchestras, bands, and ensembles; I learnt to play the Organ and even got to play the one in St Paul’s Cathedral; I participated in Drama and Sport in a way I never had before; and all of this happened in just two years here! Calne was an amazing opportunity and I’m sure I wouldn’t be where I am today without all the help it gave me.

Holly (2010-2012) Studying PPE at Balliol College, Oxford

Legacy Gifts We have been extremely touched and honoured to have been remembered in the wills of three former Calne Girls who sadly passed away in 2014 and 2015. Their legacies have in each case been given to the Bursary Fund at their behest, and it is a remarkable act of generosity that they want girls they will never know to benefit from an education they obviously held so dear.

Enrichment Scholarships From September 2015, the Calne Foundation Trust will be awarding scholarships for enrichment and academic development to girls in the Sixth Form at St Mary’s. Applicants will need to present their proposed project to a panel of Trustees and awards may be made up to £1,500 dependent on the project and at the discretion of the panel. For more information, please contact Mrs Cari Depla.

The Armed Forces Fund We continue to be fully committed to The Armed Forces Fund with many events and fundraising projects planned for next year. As you will know, this is a joint collaboration with Radley College and Downe House and to date we have raised a total of £1.7m. This has enabled the Fund to provide seven bursaries for current and future education, three of which will be at St Mary’s Calne – more are in consideration.

Our shared objective is to build a capital fund whose income can be used to educate sons & daughters of Forces Personnel who have been killed or wounded while serving their country. With the overall aim to raise £5m by 2020, we remain fully involved with both the fundraising for and actual education of these children.

THE SILVER BALL The triennial Silver Ball in aid of The Armed Forces Fund was held in London on Friday 28th November at a stunning venue on The Embankment. Almost 800 guests were treated to a truly wonderful evening, complete with a delicious sit down dinner, a live auction by the charismatic Charlie Ross and fantastic music from The Earth Lights Boogie Band. Dancing continued into the small hours and, by the end of the night, over £300,000 was raised for this extremely worthy cause. The donations continued to come in well after the event, and the total figure realised for The Armed Forces Fund, generated by the Silver Ball reached a staggering £407,000.

CANTABILE On Saturday 31st January, we welcomed the Treorchy Male Choir to Calne to join a range of musical artistes from St Mary’s Calne and St Margaret’s Preparatory School for what proved to be a wonderful evening of choral enjoyment.

Hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny, and with an address by Brigadier Greville Bibby CBE, the atmosphere throughout the evening was electric.

The Treorchy Male Choir, one of the greatest choral ensembles of all time, performed a wide range of music from traditional Welsh songs to an uplifting rendition of You Make Me Feel So Young. They were beautifully complemented by performances from St Margaret’s Chamber Choir and St Mary’s Chamber Choir, Opera Ensemble and String Sinfonia, along with moving readings by the girls of Thomas Hardy’s Afterwards and Dylan Thomas’ Do not go gentle into that good night.

The concert ended with a rousing performance of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, featuring all the performers.

The evening was generously supported by members of 9 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps and we are indebted to them, along with Petroc Trelawny and Brigadier Greville Bibby, for giving their time towards helping such an excellent cause. We are delighted to announce that this exceptional evening raised almost £6,000 for The Armed Forces Fund.

How can I support The Calne Foundation Trust?

At St Mary’s Calne and St Margaret’s Preparatory School, we are fortunate to have a community of parents, alumni and supporters who are passionate about the future and the continued evolution of the schools. Through fundraising we are able to offer the outstanding education received at both schools to a wider group of children.

In addition, we are able to realise additional projects, sooner than would otherwise be possible, that have the broadest impact on current, as well as future, pupils.

All funds raised are ring-fenced and kept separate from main school finance, and the CFT acts as a vehicle for collecting, holding/investing, and dispensing sums donated for the benefit of both schools.

As a donor you may be assured that your donation will be held in a fund of your choice.

The operational costs of The CFT, including the costs of the Development Department, are paid for by the schools as part of their running costs. This means that every penny raised will be applied for the purpose for which it was donated.

As The CFT has charitable status, it qualifies for Gift Aid and other tax benefits. Therefore, any donation you make to The Calne Foundation Trust will be deployed to be of maximum benefit to the schools and to you, as a donor.

If you are a UK tax-payer, The Calne Foundation Trust can reclaim £2.50 for every £10 that you give, through the Gift Aid scheme. In addition, if you are a higher-rate tax payer, you can reclaim £2.50 on every £10 you donate, simply by entering the details on your tax return.

For more information, please visit www.calnefoundation.org

Single Gift (Higher rate tax payer at 40%) Gift Net Cost to Gross Value Donor to The CFT £250 £187 £312 £1,000 £10,000

£750 £7,500

£1,250 £12,500

Setting up a recurring gift is one of the most effective ways of supporting St Mary’s Calne and St Margaret’s.

It not only helps the Trust to plan a successful future, but it makes it easier for you to manage your giving and ensures your gift will make a real difference.

A gift of...

£5 a month = £60 a year

£20 a month = £240 a year

£250 a month = £3000 a year

and if you Gift Aid your donation, it will be worth even more.

You can set up a direct debit or standing order to the fund of your choice, which can be paid monthly, quarterly or annually. To set up a direct debit, please complete the online form at: www.calnefoundation.org/gifts/directdebit For more information about ways to give, please contact the Development Department on 01249 857345 or office@calnefoundation.org

The Trustees Mr John Moore (Chairman)

Current Parent of St Mary’s Calne

Mrs Vicky Wilson

Governor i/c Development, Calne Girl, Former Parent

Mrs Cate Bell

CGA Committee i/c communications, Calne Girl

Mr Edward Nicholson

Current Parent of St Mary’s Calne & St Margaret’s

Mr Jonathan Smith

Governor & Current Parent of St Mary’s Calne

Mr Graham Le Fevre

Current Parent of St Mary’s Calne

Ms Lara Leigh-Wood

CGA Committee, Calne Girl

Mr Gianfranco Chicco

Current Parent of St Margaret’s

“It has been an exciting time for the Calne Foundation Trust and I am extremely proud of all the hard work and incredible achievements realised in the past 12 months. We have a fantastic team and I am delighted that we have new Trustees who are widening the skills base of the board with their professional knowledge, and giving so much of their time and expertise. It has been a pleasure to meet them.”

Our Funds

Lady Lansdowne, Patron of The Calne Foundation Trust

Capital Projects Fund

Fundraising for significant capital projects has been and continues to be vital to ensure ongoing investment in the facilities of St Mary’s and St Margaret’s for present and future generations. As leading independent schools, we cannot afford to stand still and we need to ensure we continue to provide the best possible facilities and environment in which to educate our pupils. Previous Capital Projects include the St Margaret’s Library, The Helen Wright House and the Carolyn Shaw Swimming Pool. Our 10 Year Vision - Shaping the Future - includes a number of projects in a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular areas. Subfunds have been set up for the projects under development and consultation.

Bursary Fund

As a donor, you may prefer to support directly the educational needs of young individuals. We are aiming to build a substantial Bursary Fund exactly for this purpose.

Discretionary Fund

A fund for donors who simply wish to donate to The Calne Foundation Trust and leave the application of funds to the Trustees. All donations to The Calne Foundation Trust will be dedicated to the funds listed above, that is, to bursaries and/or capital/specific projects. They will not be deployed, under any circumstances, for straightforward refurbishment or maintenance.

The Calne Foundation Trust 63 Curzon St Calne SN11 0DF www.calnefoundation.org