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Getting across: Campaign surpasses £12m!

1st June 2012

The College is thrilled to announce that the Bridging Centuries Campaign has now reached £12.4m on the way to its £17m target.  The sudden break into a sprint across our Bridgometer is thanks to the combination of a huge number of small gifts from alumni and two large gifts, one from a new friend of the College and another from an alumni couple, announced last month.

Pembroke is delighted to welcome a new friend of the College to the list of those supporting Bridging Centuries.  Sheikh Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz from Saudi Arabia has made a very significant gift to the Campaign, a key to our rapid progress beyond the £12m mark.  Oxford University as well as Pembroke  are recognizing his generosity to this exceptional project. The Master, Giles Henderson, said “Pembroke has always maintained strong ties with the Middle East and has a strong focus on Arabic and Islamic Studies. We are eager to build new relationships in the region based on the centuries-old mutual interest between the two cultures. Our donor, Sheikh Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, is a newcomer to Oxford but has done us the great honour of entrusting Pembroke with a very generous donation to support the transformation of Pembroke’s physical site. We welcome him warmly to our community.”

Throughout the past three months Pembroke has also seen enthusiasm rising further amongst its global alumni body to participate in the transformational new buildings project.  Pembroke’s current students who telephoned alumni throughout the month of March spread the word far and wide, and the response from alumni has been exceptional.  So far we have received donations from around 500 alumni in response to these calls.   With sums ranging from £5 to £20,000 being committed, a total of almost £400,000 has flowed into the campaign. A great total, but where the number of donors is even more important than the amount.

All these gifts taken together have not only made a great contribution towards our target, but have also lent fresh momentum to the Campaign at just the right time – the week of the arrival of the span of the iconic new bridge.

But with Pembroke’s new complex on schedule for occupation by students from 1st October this year, the fundraising bridge is not yet complete.  There is little time left to reach our Campaign target and £4.6m still to secure to ensure we keep costs down and can proceed with our major academic priorities without a break.

Have you made your mark yet on Bridging Centuries? Still time to become a donor, even name part of the new complex – and help Pembroke get across!

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