The Development Office will hold the College’s first Month of Giving in March 2025.

The ChuGives Month of Giving will seek to raise essential funds to support future generations of postgraduates at Churchill College through Postgraduate Studentships, Academic Travel Grants, and Hardship Grants.

Around twenty Postgraduate Studentships that include funding from the College are awarded each year thanks to generous donors. This is in addition to the Churchill Scholars. Different Studentships require different amounts of funding from the College depending on the level of input that is secured from external Trusts and Foundations. Last year, the College contributed up to £28,205 towards each of these Studentships (2023-24).

The postgraduate students at Churchill College are tomorrow’s innovators and leaders, conducting ground-breaking research to address global social and scientific challenges. We aim to seek out the most talented postgraduate students who, after completing their degrees, will help make a difference to the world we live in. If we are to continue attracting the finest minds in the world, we need your support. Funding for postgraduate students has the power to unlock careers in vital research and diversify academic cohorts to ensure that financial backgrounds are not a barrier for further study.

Throughout March, the Development Office will be sending emails to the wider Churchill community asking for their support. Gifts made as part of this campaign will have even greater impact because thousands of pounds of match-funding from some of the College’s most generous donors is ready to be unlocked. Certain challenges can also be met in order to release additional funding, for example if at least one donation is made each day during the Month of Giving, challenge funding of £1,000 will be unlocked.

The dedicated ChuGives website will share Student Stories as well as Alumni Stories to demonstrate the long-lasting impact of receiving support for postgraduate study. We do hope you will enjoy reading these throughout the month of March.

The Donor Wall will be updated with the names of the latest donors as gifts are made to the College, and you will be able to keep an eye on the total number of donations over the 31 days.

As well as receiving email communications, selected alumni who completed their postgraduate studies at Churchill will also receive a phone call from a postgraduate student caller. Many alumni really value the opportunity to speak to current students and find out more about the life of the College today. Students similarly enjoy connecting with past Churchillians but the timing of the annual telethon does not suit many postgraduates. Alumni who are selected to receive a call will be emailed in February and the option to opt out is of course available. Either complete this form to opt out from a call during the Month of Giving or email the Development Office.

In College, the MCR’s 2025 Conference on Everything will take place on the afternoon of Saturday 8 March 2025. This is an opportunity to hear directly from today’s postgraduate students who will share their research through talks and posters. You can register to attend this year’s Conference on Everything here.

Thank you in advance for your involvement in ChuGives March 2025. Please do help spread the word about this fundraising campaign by sharing posts online with the hashtag #ChuGives.