From the Chair

Dr Michael Banner Dean, and Chair of Alumni Relations & Development

I hope you find our report inspiring and you will see the impact of your generosity on the lives of our students and the future of Trinity. Your steadfast support throughout another year disrupted by the pandemic has made a world of difference.

This year you have given a total amount of £3.6m in new gifts, legacies, and pledges, enabling Trinity to further its access and outreach initiatives and enhance teaching and research. Highlights of your giving include generous support to alleviate hardship faced by foreign students due to COVID-19, to provide top-up and full undergraduate bursaries, and to establish new MPhil and PhD studentships so that we can continue to attract and nurture the best research talent.

You gave £967,282 to the Annual Fund, enabling Trinity to provide more funding for other priorities including access and outreach, the Choir, and the Boat Club. A remarkable 64% of alumni called donated during the December 2020 Telethon and together raised over £278,000. Ten legacies will also support the College’s priorities long into the future. We were delighted that over 1,500 alumni from around the world joined us for at least one event. Our popular virtual event programme continued, including the illuminating Trinity Research Talk Series, which shares the latest research from our Fellows. Thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of our volunteer committee members, our associations and groups kept going too. Trinity in Japan delivered an exceptional online events series with distinguished guest speakers that was open to all alumni, and a virtual series with Dame Sally Davies (e2019) enabled alumni in Hong Kong, Singapore and East and West Coast USA to ‘Meet the Master’.

We are immensely grateful that so many of you have supported us so generously through another challenging year. Please do continue to keep in touch with the Alumni Relations and Development Office, led by Executive Director Bill O’Hearn, who joined the team during the year. His report on page 10 shares a recent landmark in our fundraising efforts, made possible because of your loyalty to Trinity. Thank you for all that you do.

Alumni and families enjoying ‘Trinity on the Backs’, summer 2021.

© MATTHEW FEAST