‘Our College, Our Future’ campaign update

St Catharine’s is pleased to share an update on the ‘Our College, Our Future’ campaign. Launched in 2019, our campaign seeks to secure £65 million for the benefit of our students and to strengthen and sustain the St Catharine’s community for generations to come.

The campaign aims to enable the College to deliver the ambitions set out in the ‘Our College, Our Future’ strategic plan by:

• Providing a world-class education for our students, in a supportive environment where academic aspiration, diversity and student wellbeing are promoted.
• Delivering a selective renewal of our buildings and spaces to support College operations, ensuring Members enjoy a high standard of living and access to state-of-the-art facilities, while also increasing opportunities for revenue generation.
• Strengthening College finances by expanding our revenue base, building up our endowment and managing our investments ethically in order to maximise support for our students and attract world-class academics.

The campaign so far…

Deborah Loveluck (2007), Fellow and Development Director at St Catharine’s, explains:

“On behalf of the College, I wish to thank all our Members and friends for their generosity. We have now raised £55 million out of £65 million for the ‘Our College, Our Future’ campaign. Donations have enabled us to enhance our outreach programme, provide outstanding welfare provision, enrich College life and revitalise our buildings and spaces. I am delighted to share an update on the progress we have made since 2019.”

Revitalised buildings and spaces

We are delighted that building works for our Central Spaces project are progressing well. This work will modernise the facilities at the heart of College to provide our community with an elegant and accessible suite of buildings, and enhance the experience of students, alumni, staff, Fellows and visitors. We are proud that this £16 million project is the second to be funded entirely by alumni. Work is on track to be completed next summer and we look forward to officially opening our new Central Spaces in autumn 2022.

The College is also looking forward to work starting on the New Development @ St Chad’s. This project will complement the existing second-year accommodation and green space with two additional houses containing 23 bedrooms and generous communal spaces. Funds have been secured for this project and we expect to break ground in June 2022, once the examination period ends.

Enhanced outreach and widening participation activities

St Catharine’s has a varied programme of activities that enable us to attract the most talented students, regardless of background. As a result of our commitment to widening participation, 79.6% of our UK Freshers came to us from state schools this year – up from 70.5% in 2020–21 (the University of Cambridge’s target is 69.1% by 2024–25) – and 10.5% self-declared as having been eligible for free school meals. This term, we have been able to grow our outreach team and are planning to expand our activities to reach even more potential applicants, thanks to  a significant gift from Ian Filby (1978, Natural Sciences) and his wife Susan. Look out for further news about our outreach plans in the coming weeks.

Outstanding welfare provision

The College is also proud to have earned a reputation for being at the forefront of welfare provision because of the dedication of our team, who stepped up to help us navigate the additional challenges posed by the pandemic. We now have a dedicated Head of Wellbeing, Mary Simuyandi, who oversees the support and resources necessary to enable students, staff and Fellows to thrive at St Catharine’s. The College has also recently appointed a Community Health Practitioner, who is responsible for providing clinical support and driving health promotion for everyone at St Catharine’s. Both these positions have been made possible thanks to the generous support of Honorary Fellows Peter (1974) and Christina (2016) Dawson. Read more about our new-look Health & Wellbeing team.

Gifts have also been received that have allowed the College to provide front-line staff with essential mental health training, which will ensure earlier support for anyone experiencing difficulties throughout the whole College community.

Excellent provision of student bursaries in perpetuity

Thanks to the generosity of Members and friends, St Catharine’s has been able to provide outstanding bursary provision to our students, ensuring that the brightest minds are able to thrive at College, regardless of their financial circumstances. A record-breaking gift from the David and Claudia Harding Foundation has funded in perpetuity postgraduate scholarships through the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme, as well as substantial undergraduate support.

Strengthened teaching and research

St Catharine’s has established the first University lectureship in Malay World Studies to nurture excellence in this field of study, which is named for Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who received his undergraduate degree and an Honorary Fellowship from the College.

The College is also proud to have established the Biosecurity Research Initiative at St Catharine’s, which continues to provide cutting edge, evidenced based information about existing and emerging biological security risks and interventions. Read more.

Completing the ‘Our College, Our Future’ Campaign

We are proud that many of our alumni choose to support us. Without their generosity we would not be able to provide a first-class experience for the most talented students, regardless of their background, through our bursaries, hardship grants, student support, widening participation and our buildings and spaces.

We are now looking to raise funds in order to complete the ‘Our College, Our Future’ campaign.

All donations, whatever the amount, are greatly appreciated and will help us to achieve our £65 million target and provide enormous benefit to our current and future students. Please see our film below which outlines St Catharine’s current fundraising priorities.

Area of greatest need

University fees only cover 28 % of the College’s income each year. Your College subsidises each student every year by £5,000 to deliver the Cambridge education we all value. This creates an ongoing deficit for the College, which has become more challenging over the last year due to losses incurred during the pandemic, including reduced student rents and conference income. St Catharine’s is therefore seeking unrestricted donations to enable us to prioritise the areas of greatest need so that we can continue to enrich our students’ education and to support the whole College community.

1. Our buildings and spaces

The ‘Our College, Our Future’ campaign seeks to raise funds for a selective planned renewal of buildings to support the St Catharine’s community and create a supportive living, learning and working environment. We are committed to increasing affordability and accessibility by improving the range of accommodation available in buildings entirely owned by St Catharine’s. The College’s next focus is to raise funds for the refurbishment of Hobsons. Constructed in the 1930s, this building has remained largely untouched since 1960. It is a priority for us to refurbish the rooms within this much-loved building to upgrade the accommodation and facilities to modern standards.

Dr Peter Wothers (1988, Natural Sciences), Fellow and President of St Catharine’s, adds:

“Our Members know that our buildings play an important role in creating an atmosphere conducive to learning and fostering a strong sense of community. Our plans will ensure that our facilities provide these benefits for many years to come.”

2. College life

With more than fifty College clubs and societies, students at St Catharine’s have a wealth of opportunities to explore their talents and interests outside the rigours of their academic programme, which is important for building lifelong friendships and community spirit. St Catharine’s is committed to enriching College life and seeks funds to:

• Endow College posts to support and enable our students to flourish;
• Increase support for our sports clubs and student groups; and
• Increase the number of College choral and instrumental scholarship and awards.

Harry Leng (2017, Economics, St Catharine’s cricket and hockey team member, hockey Blue and College sports bursary recipient, remarks:

“College sport created a deep sense of community and common purpose, which enriched the friendships I had at Catz and generated a supportive atmosphere for academic work.”

3. Outreach and widening participation

The College is seeking further funds to support the annual work of the Outreach team in promoting widening participation. This will enable us to continue to successfully engage with talented students from backgrounds that have traditionally been under-represented in higher education, providing subject taster days, online webinars, school visits and regional events.

Ali Jassam (2020, Mathematics) comments:

“St Catharine’s support for outreach activities is so important because a lot of applicants might be deterred from applying because of their circumstances.”)

For further details about the Our College, Our Future campaign, please read our campaign brochure and visit our campaign website.

Make a gift to St Catharine’s.

If you have any questions, please contact the Alumni and Development Office at alumni.office@caths.cam.ac.uk.