Cambridge University raises £800m

[efq]

Cambridge University has raised £800m to improve its facilities and invest in its collections.
The university, which is celebrating its 800th year, praised benefactors for their generosity.
It said reaching the £800m mark was a milestone in its campaign to raise £1bn. It received £138m in donations last financial year.
One of the aims of the campaign is to enable investment in facilities for students and staff.
Money will also be spent on the preservation of the university's architectural heritage.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Alison Richard said: "Our high hopes for the support of our alumni and friends have been far exceeded thanks to their commitment and generosity.
"This is all the more remarkable as financial and economic concerns mounted during the year". Pfft I've been there thousands of times and I don't find anything so special about it nor why it somehow manages to raise that much money. But they only let you in if you booked officially, member of the university or live in cambridge. They are well strict :S

Still good for them raising that.

[drama]

have you seen the big gold clock near kings college? cost 1 million or something stupid... for a clock.

I can thing of much better things to do with a million

[Immenseman]

wow nice 800 million

[efq]

have you seen the big gold clock near kings college? cost 1 million or something stupid... for a clock.

I can thing of much better things to do with a million
yeah, didn't know it was that much. Cambridge is full of weird things and like the round church, god I hated going there. St Marys is okish.

[Virgin Mary]

I wish people donated that to me, I'm more important than a building.

[JackBuddy]

I wish people donated that to me, I'm more important than a building.
There is plenty of money being pumped into restoration projects for places of worship nationwide.

[Bun]

st johns has a pretty cathedral :eusa_danc.

[efq]

st johns has a pretty cathedral :eusa_danc.
Sure it is and i'm not being sarcastic!

[JackBuddy]

st johns has a pretty cathedral :eusa_danc.
is that the butter thing?

[Bun]

wot u chattin its a big church in st johns college bit lols, its got loads of pretty pictures and stuff

[JackBuddy]

oh i thought you meant cathederal that does the cheese thing

[Bun]

o u r a loser

[JackBuddy]

See?

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/competitions/cathedral_city/competitionimage.gif

[Bun]

that looks quite nice actually

[efq]

Ok the above posts made me laugh alot!

[Alkaz]

oh nice, £800m, nice

[Pyroka]

You know that episode of South Park where they're all sniffing their own farts and driving Hybrid cars because they're so smug?

That's the University of Cambridge.

[Barmi]

Pfft I've been there thousands of times
I'd be impressed if you had thousands of degrees from Cambridge to match! (Oh, and the University is special and unique to those who study there.)

have you seen the big gold clock near kings college? cost 1 million or something stupid... for a clock.

I can thing of much better things to do with a million
It's a fascinating clock to watch. AFAIK an honorary fellow designed and paid for it (i.e. it didn't come out of the university's pocket).

st johns has a pretty cathedral :eusa_danc.
You should know that it's a chapel! Cambridge doesn't have a cathedral. A few churches, and chapels in the vast majority (or all?) of the colleges... but no cathedral. :P



Cambridge has raised £800m towards its £1bn fundraising target, the University announced yesterday.

The 800th anniversary campaign's annual fundraising report said that the total raised centrally and by the Colleges was £138m, lifting the total raised so far to £801m.

In 2005, Cambridge launched a campaign to raise £1bn to safeguard the University's financial future.

The announcement, which reflects donations up until August 2008, comes amid growing concerns about the economic climate and Britain's deepening recession. But the campaign says it is conscious of the "financial storms" that could affect future fundraising.

The Vice-Chancellor, Alison Richard, expressed her delight at the announcement. "Our high hopes for the support of our alumni and friends have been far exceeded thanks to their commitment and generosity. This is all the more remarkable as financial and economic concerns mounted during the year."

The co-chairman of the campaign, Sir David Walker, said: "This milestone year for Cambridge has brought us over closer to our campaign target of £1 billion. However, we are keenly aware of the financial storms around us. We know that achieving our shared goal will demand even more intense commitment from all of us, as we continue to build a firm financial base for collegiate Cambridge."

Edit: Ryannnn... it's like 95% normal people and normal fellows. Tradition ≠ pretentious.

[Bun]

o shurup its still just a church :@

[Jahova]

That's a whole lot of money.

[Axel]

woo go cambridge

[MrGazet]

whoa 800 mils. damnnn

[stickwitu]

what a waste of money.

[Barmi]

what a waste of money.
Oh, it's truly a waste of money to invest and support the future of an academic institution, right... :rolleyes: Are you forgetting that people wouldn't donate obscene amounts of money if it truly was a waste?

A great system is in place and it would be awful to lose the collegiate system or support for students of future generations, simply for lack of funding. It's commendable that a proactive thoughtful approach has been taken, and that it has been successful. Just 20% left to achieve their goal.

[stickwitu]

sorry but they don't need all that money, and in the current situation if you're going to donate you should do it where it's neccesary - not for the educational system which appears to be doing fine in this country, but for supporting the countries where the credit crunch is going to hit the hardest.

[efq]

Cambridge has all the boffin nerds and the super brainy people.
Loads of chinese around and I don't see how that university has been around for that long?

[luce]

i don't want to go there my family have gone to oxford on my dads side so i would never be forgiven but my best friends mum went there and she has applied to go there or will be applying :D It's already amazing is it not?

[efq]

Yeah its beautiful but its still the uni for the brainiest people in the world and students always around.
People find Cambridge facinating when they come here but I just think its a building or just another place as i've seen it a billion times lol, I don't think I realize the specialty of our city!

[Bun]

Yeah its beautiful but its still the uni for the brainiest people in the world and students always around.
why's that a bad thing? please enlighten me.

[efq]

I wasn't incisting it was a bad thing but the students can be pretty silly at times.

[Barmi]

I wasn't incisting it was a bad thing but the students can be pretty silly at times.
If by that you mean just like any other student all over the country, then I would agree. But does this 'silly' refer to nightlife?

[efq]

If by that you mean just like any other student all over the country, then I would agree. But does this 'silly' refer to nightlife?
No they run across the roads when coming out from uni and stuff, they don't care half the time and they always pack Cambridge up :(

[Barmi]

No they run across the roads when coming out from uni and stuff, they don't care half the time and they always pack Cambridge up :(
Correction: only during term time. It is like a ghost town during the holidays! Besides, there are more reckless students elsewhere in the country.

I've observed much worse road behaviour at home. The difference in Cambridge is that there only tends to be one road which virtually all students need to cross between their college and lectures, and it has pedestrian crossings every few metres... literally. Pedestrian crossings which get used, funnily enough. :P

[Jonster]

It's always a nightmare in the mornings and evenings if I must say so myself. I do agree that Cambridge tends to be densily populated during term time, a little too much. But hey, it's not all bad - keeps the ecomonic side of Cambridge afloat.