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Giving Day establishes Student Support Fund worth over £455,000

Wednesday 23 November 2022

 

St Catharine’s is grateful to the 558 staff, Fellows, alumni, parents and friends whose generosity during our first ever Giving Day raised £455,042 for the College’s new Student Support Fund. The Alumni & Development Office is continuing to process gifts that were sent in during the Giving Day, so the College expects this total to increase.

The St Catharine’s Student Support Fund has been set up to sustain the present and future College community through bursaries for students, widening participation projects, and health and wellbeing initiatives. The new Fund will be administered by the Tutorial Office at St Catharine’s and will be drawn upon to support students in these ways as early as the next academic year.

The Giving Day was organised by the St Catharine’s Alumni & Development Office over a 36-hour period (9am on 16 November to 9pm on 17 November) to reach different time zones as life has taken many alumni all over the world since graduation. Gifts before and during the Giving Day were matched £1 for £1 to double their impact for students – until the £400,000 mark was reached – thanks to the thousands of pounds of matched and challenge funding already given by donors in favour of our students.

Deborah Loveluck (2007), Fellow and Development Director, commented:

“The success of our inaugural Giving Day was testament to the St Catharine’s spirit of togetherness and the genuine affection felt by so many towards the College – and will make a real difference to our students. We were honestly amazed by how our community has rallied to help us build the new Student Support Fund, especially in light of the financial pressures facing individuals and households at the moment.

“I was moved to see members from all over the world, many of whom I have met over the years, donating to the Giving Day. Whether it was the heartfelt notes submitted with donations, the numerous first-time donors, or even the two separate gifts of £1473 from Murray Browne (1974, Natural Sciences) and Wei Tchou (2010, Chinese) in reference to our foundation year, all the gifts received meant so much.”

Sebastian Porter, a second-year Geography undergraduate and the new President of the College’s JCR Committee, added:

“Thank you so much to all the donors for their generous contributions to St Catharine’s, and to current staff and students involved in the Giving Day. All the contributions will ensure that students from all backgrounds at Catz can experience the breadth of opportunities offered by the College and Cambridge. The bonds between alumni and the College reassures me that Catz is much more than three years of my life; I am now part of a supportive community that will endure for decades to come.”

Giving Day logo with example comments submitted by donors, replicated from https://givingday.caths.cam.ac.uk/donor-wall/
Some of the supportive messages from the donors who participated in the Giving Day
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