SUPPORTING KEBLE
Our Priorities
The College currently has a permanent endowment of some £60 million (July 2022). It uses the income from these investments (c. £1.2m p.a) to supplement other sources of income including from tuition fees, research and the conference business, but each year there is a significant shortfall.
In order to balance the accounts, we remain reliant on philanthropy and the generosity of our alumni and friends. We must therefore continue to seek donations for our four key priority areas: student support, teaching and research, the community, and buildings and facilities. To find out what your support has achieved so far in all of these areas, you can read our latest Impact Report. Further detail about our College finances is provided in the Annual Report and Accounts.
Student Support
Outreach, Bursaries, Scholarships
Our mission is to attract and encourage the brightest students to apply to Keble regardless of their circumstances, and then to support them throughout their time here, be they graduate or undergraduate students.
Outreach Activity – The Outreach and Career Development Fellow, our Outreach Officer, and all the access and outreach projects are funded by donations. The team do terrific work with schools, teachers and pupils to attract, encourage and guide the brightest applicants in our target area of the West Midlands. Our access programme provides multiple opportunities for disadvantaged young people to consider applying to Oxbridge and get the support they need throughout their education – from providing first-hand insights into university life, offering advice on subject choices and delivering intensive academic tutoring at GCSE and A-Level, to supporting strong university applications.
Undergraduate Bursaries – The Oxford Bursary Scheme makes means-tested awards to those undergraduates in need. The cost of providing this support is divided between the University and the College. Being able to source the College contribution from gifts to the endowment minimises the annual impact on the stability of the College finances and enables us to offer essential financial security to all those who need it. Currently, c.20% of students receive some form of bursary support. The annual cost to the College each year is £275,000, and is entirely funded by donations from generous alumni. You can read more about our Bursary Endowment Appeal here.
Graduate Scholarships – The realisation of the new graduate site, The H B Allen Centre, is a huge achievement, but we now need a scholarship fund to match. On average, the current cost for a graduate student is £30,000 per year. A priority is to increase the funds available for graduate scholarships to encourage the best students from the UK, EU and overseas to apply, and the most talented Keble students who achieve a first class degree at undergraduate level to stay on with us here.
Hardship – Some students inevitably experience financial difficulties during their studies for reasons beyond their control, more so now than ever with the impact of the cost-of-living-crisis. Through donations from alumni we are able to offer a much-needed helping hand. Hardship funds ensure students who may find themselves in difficulty do not need to work during term-time, and supports the costs of books, computers and other IT equipment.
Teaching and Research
Securing tutorial teaching through endowing academic posts is always a priority.
Keble is committed to maintaining the tutorial system of undergraduate teaching. The interaction between the students and academics creates a personal and rich learning environment, one that (most) alumni value greatly, and one that equips our students for future success. This intensive method of teaching is inevitably expensive and requires significant financial support. We are currently fundraising to endow Professor Diane Purkiss’s role as Tutorial Fellow in English. You can read more about this appeal here.
New Academic Posts – Our core business is education and research. We are looking to appoint at least one and possibly two new Career Development Fellows (CDFs) as part of our commitment to supporting early career researchers and advancing scholarship in exciting new fields. CDFs are typically postdoctoral researchers selected in competition for their potential in furthering research, who can also provide focused teaching support in key subject areas. Thanks to your support we already have two endowed CDFs, in Modern English Literature and in Early Modern History. We are currently fundraising for a much-needed CDF in Law (you can read more about this appeal here), and in future we aim to secure at least one new CDF in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Medical Sciences and Social Sciences.
Buildings and Facilities
At Keble we are sometimes accused of obsessing about bricks. It is one of the most obvious things that makes us unique in Oxford: our glorious colourful bricks arranged by architect William Butterfield in crazy patterns to achieve an inspiring gothic splendour. Love them or hate them, the bricks make Keble special.
Buildings and the associated facilities for all those living, working, and socialising in College remain a fundraising priority. We are the guardians of these unique buildings, and they are expensive to maintain. In difficult times of financial uncertainty, we remain responsible for preserving this architectural heritage entrusted to us. This involves both adding to those facilities through the construction of The H B Allen Centre – a focus for graduates and research – and renovating and refurbishing the Victorian Butterfield buildings. The rolling programme of careful modernisation of the accommodation in Liddon and Pusey Quads and the painstaking work to refurbish the Hall and the Chapel attest to the value we place on our heritage, while maximising the efficiency of use. Most recently, generous alumni have made possible the restoration of the beautiful stained-glass windows in the College Library.
Our beautiful gardens and much-used sports grounds are maintained by a dedicated College team who wish to express their thanks to those alumni choosing to direct their donations to this area. Funding has supported the purchase of new benches for the quads, a series of planters for new magnolia trees, the addition of the copper beach sapling tree by the Warden’s Lodgings, and, at the sports ground, five-aside goals which were extremely useful during the pandemic when we were able to run two pitches for students.
College Community
Keble offers a rich and varied cultural environment, one in which every student can enhance existing talents and interests, and develop some new ones. Donations directed to ‘Community Support’ subsidise student activities, clubs, societies, sports teams, those super-talented individuals representing the University, the creative arts, exhibitions, concerts, the Chapel and the College Choir.
There are multiple ways for alumni to maintain an involvement with their old College clubs and societies, including:
Keble Rowing Society – The membership subscriptions of the Keble Rowing Society support the College Boat Club through coaching, facilities and equipment. Please make a gift of to join KRS and receive rowing news and invitations to a variety of rowing related events.
The Keble Association (KA) – The Keble Association funds over 80 individual grant awards per year for undergraduate and graduate students wishing to undertake additional study, humanitarian-related travel, or internships in the vacations. The Keble Association is run by volunteers for the benefit of current students and offers support for Keble students out of term-time. You can now sign up to join the KA via the Talbot Fund.
Friends of the Keble College Chapel – As a Friend, your support will help to ensure that the Chapel and Choir remain treasures of our community and beyond for centuries to come. Member: £100 per year (£50 for recent graduates); Supporter: £250 per year; Associate £1,000 per year.