Telephone Campaign 2024

During the telephone campaign in April our thirteen student callers spoke with 414 alumni. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with our students – catching up on all the latest news from Trinity Hall, sharing your experience and giving invaluable careers adviceYour interest in the College and support for our students is greatly appreciated.

The telethon is a good opportunity to challenge or confirm your expectations of the working world beyond Cambridge, and to meet alumni and members of the College that you wouldn't otherwise.

— Telephone Campaign Caller 2024

This year 220 alumni chose to make a gift, raising a fantastic £165,569 for College funds and projects. This has made – and continues to make – a huge difference to the College community.      

160 gifts were made to the Area of Greatest Need, raising £133K. We are particularly grateful for unrestricted gifts of this kind as they demonstrate your trust in the College to direct the money where it is most needed. This year we are renaming our general college support fund ‘THink Ahead’, highlighting the importance of unrestricted gifts as an investment in the future of Trinity Hall and its students.  

30 donors chose to make a gift to our student support fund raising an additional £12.8K. The donations we receive enable us to offer financial support to more undergraduates via the Enhanced Cambridge Bursary scheme. These bursaries relieve the financial pressure felt by undergraduates, enabling them focus on their studies and ensuring they can get the most from their College experience.  

£4.2K was raised for the Christopher Padfield Fund for postgraduate student support. Support for our postgraduate community is a top fundraising priority and looking ahead to next academic year we want to significantly increase the funds available for both fees and for maintenance, ensuring Trinity Hall can attract the highest calibre of students regardless of financial background. Donations will also help postgraduates over the next academic year to undertake travel for their research and to ensure they don’t miss the opportunity to present at academic conferences. 

Helping applicants from all backgrounds believe they can come to Trinity Hall, and thrive here, underpins all our access and widening participation activity. This year’s telephone campaign raised £5.6K to support the Admissions team’s wide variety of events both in College and in our link area. When reflecting on a recent workshop designed to support students with little prior discussion and debating experience, one student commented:

It was so insightful being able to discuss different ideas and expand on them with like-minded people without any fear of judgement. I now feel so much more confident in speaking my mind.

— Telephone Campaign Caller 2024

Our students should be able to thrive, not merely survive, during their studies. Playing sport, participating in music, or performing drama are all part of the Trinity Hall experience, and it is our intention that our students should belong to a community that supports their wellbeing and resilience. £3.3K was donated to college Clubs & Societies, helping to ensure all students who wish to participate can do so.

Your continued support

Over £4M has been raised since we began our telephone campaigns more than twenty years ago. This is an extraordinary effort and a testament to the power of cumulative giving. Gifts made in our telephone campaigns over the years have supported:

  • Additional financial assistance for undergraduates 
  • Postgraduate research and travel to conferences  
  • Widening participation and access initiatives 
  • College teaching through the supervision system 
  • Academic resources for the Jerwood library  
  • Student mental health and wellbeing initiatives 
  • Extra-curricular activity, including purchasing kit and equipment for clubs & societies 
  • Refurbishment of student bedrooms on the main site 

Many of you will have made your first gift to the College during one of our telephone campaigns. A significant number of you have been giving consecutively for 10, 15 and in some cases more than 20 years. Your generosity and your loyalty to Trinity Hall has been truly transformational.

Thank you.

Thanks to your collective generosity, we can continue to offer the level of academic and pastoral care that makes College distinct.

If you wish to learn more about how you can get involved, please contact development@trinhall.cam.ac.uk.