On 19th April Marlborough College, the UK’s largest co-educational full boarding school, broke the record for a UK School Giving Day. Over £1.3m from over 1,000 donors including parents, alumni, pupils and staff.
A Giving Day is a relatively new fundraising initiative in the UK which aims to raise as much money as possible from the whole school community during a 36-hour window. Pupils and staff took part in a range of fundraising activities at the College whilst parents and alumni made donations online. Every donation was matched, thanks to the generosity of a matching donor.
The Giving Day marked the launch of the College’s Marlborough Difference Campaign. The goal of the Campaign is to fund 100 free places, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the pupil community. The College is committed to providing more opportunities for motivated and talented young people who would otherwise be unable to study at Marlborough.
The College was founded in 1843 with the purpose of providing reduced fees for a proportion of pupils and this continues to this day. In total, 150 pupils, or 15 per cent of the school, currently receive financial support. In 2018, the College had 12 free places and today the figure is 39. The Campaign aims to raise £75 million within the next 10 years to fund 100 free places. So far, the Campaign has raised £15 million.
The Master, Louise-Moelwyn Hughes, commented:
“I am incredibly grateful to the whole Marlborough community for raising this record breaking amount of money for our new Campaign. It is my absolute privilege to lead a school that is committed to offering young people from all backgrounds the life-changing opportunity of a Marlborough education.”
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