Education – £34,864,500 distributed in 142 grants
In this financial year this category received the largest proportion of the distribution, impacted in particular by the grant of £10 million and commitment of a further £15m over the next two years made to Oxford University for the New Bodleian Library.
The Campaign for the University of Oxford is organised around three major strategic themes; supporting students and the life of the University, supporting academic staff and programmes and supporting infrastructure and buildings. The planned programme of investment by the University is designed to achieve a permanent transformation in the way the Colleges, Divisions and Departments of the University sustain themselves. The upgrading of key buildings and infrastructure will bring important changes to the physical face of Oxford for generations, including new facilities, accommodation and infrastructure to support academic and communal life, and the preservation and enhancement of their historic fabric to the Colleges and Halls. The new Bodleian will open up the site to wider audiences through the use of spaces for events, lectures, exhibitions and readings. Seminar rooms will be created to enable students to handle delicate original materials safely, and multi media resources will be used to build a world-class learning experience.
There will also be a new conservation centre to preserve ancient manuscripts and texts, using both the latest technologies and traditional approaches in concert. In the current age of technology and digitisation, the purpose of the Library is evolving into one where the services it provides and the connections it facilitates are increasingly important, and the fact that it is able to house rare and highly valuable materials will continue to place it in the role of a vital resource for the University and for the United Kingdom. This is the largest single grant ever awarded in the history of the Foundation and reflects the Trustees’ commitment to supporting excellence.
Museums also feature strongly this year, with a grant of £1,500,000 to the Victoria & Albert Museum for the creation of the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. £1,000,000 was given to the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth for the ongoing conservation of Henry VIII’s favourite warship which requires highly specialised preservation techniques to secure the ship and artefacts for future generations. In addition new visitor and educational facilities will be created in a purpose-built home for the Ship, bringing all the artefacts onto the same site as the ship itself.
The National Museums of Scotland received £500,000 for the transformation of access, facilities and learning space for their outstanding collections in art, science and the natural world, which is visited by over 800,000 people a year. The London Transport Museum, originally supported with a grant of £200,000 in 2004, received a further £100,000 to help complete the redevelopment.
The Universities of Nottingham Trent and Strathclyde both received £500,000 this financial year. The former grant was for the upgrade of dated buildings unsuitable for teaching space. Two of their main buildings, both Grade 2* listed, will be reordered to create new learning spaces and flexible, modern facilities. By demolishing 1960’s extensions, and clearing a car park, a new enclosed quadrangle will be created. A further car parking area will be removed and a new hub, the heart of the whole campus, will serve as a student support, community information and public access area.
The grant to the University of Strathclyde was also for a major capital project. The University has created a new Institute to be a pioneering, world-class centre for research and teaching in drug discovery and development. It will bring together leading researchers in the chemical, biological and pharmaceutical sciences to help combat important health issues of the 21st century. The proposed new building will take the work forward, merging five departments onto one site. The building will include laboratory space for 150 researchers, teaching laboratories for 100 students, ancillary laboratories and social learning spaces.
Seven grants of £250,000 were awarded over the course of the year, of which four are for capital projects benefiting people with special needs, namely TreeHouse Trust, a school for children with autism, The Royal School for Deaf Children in Margate, the Royal National College for the Blind and the National Star College in Cheltenham which provides further education for young people with severe & complex disabilities. The Trustees remain highly committed to supporting educational attainment for those with specialised needs, enabling people to reach their potential.
The Prior’s Court Foundation in Thatcham, another establishment for children with severe autism, received further support towards its capital improvements, this time with a grant of £100,000. A grant of £50,000 was provided to the Red Balloon Learning Centre in Cambridge to develop its work with children who have been the victims of bullying.
The Hansel Foundation in Scotland, which provides supported living and educational projects for people with complex disabilities, was supported with a grant of £30,000 towards the creation of a new four-bedroom bungalow. This facility is intended to help young people to make the transition from school into adult life. In addition, the Amberley Working Museum received a grant of £15,000 towards delivering a programme of lifelong learning for people of all ages, with specific programmes designed to respond to the National Curriculum.
Contributions were also made to bursary funds in a number of establishments, at various levels of learning, to help disadvantaged students to access high quality education.
