CUBC launches the Cambridge Rowing Charitable Fund

Landmark support establishes the CUBC endowment

The anticipation is building towards this year’s races, with a return to the Tideway and the welcome sight and sounds of thousands of supporters along the course. We approach this with a clear sense of the Club’s priorities and a strong outlook for the future, and recognise that it is thanks to the efforts of committed individuals over many years that the Club is what it is today. Ensuring the Club can continue in the same vein and excel long into the future is a key priority.

It is therefore our great pleasure to announce the establishment of The CUBC Rowing Charitable Fund, an endowment fund created to provide a permanent and substantial basis of support for the Club. The Fund is designed to hold major philanthropic gifts to the Club in perpetuity, applying income to Club activities within the same vision guiding all Club support.

The Fund has been established through the incredible generosity of a group of founding donors: Stephen Peel; David Cassidy; Jim Garman; Matt Brittin; Sam Brooks; and Malcolm Baker. Each has committed an exceptional level of support to the endowment, allowing this pillar of Club sustainability to come into being. We are also deeply grateful to those who have committed to the endowment anonymously.

Stephen notes: “The Club has meant a lot to me since my earliest days at Cambridge. My experiences through the CUBC were highly formative, providing a basis for progression in the sport and life more generally. The skill, dedication and achievement exemplified by the Boat Race crews embodies much of the best of sport. It’s important to me that others have the same opportunities I did, and that the Club can sustain a world-class university rowing programme for men and women for decades and centuries to come. A permanent, well-managed endowment for the Club is critical to achieving this. Oxford has set a target of £20 million for their endowment, a figure over time we will have to match at least. The initial supporters, including the six founders, take us the first quarter of the way. I would like to think that we can build on this strong start with support from many other alumni who have benefitted from their experiences at the Club and have the capacity to contribute. To all who could consider contributing: please do so. Your support, alongside the support of all other donors, really is the future for the Club.”

Alongside the Pulling Together initiative, launched last week, The CUBC Rowing Charitable Fund is a major part of the Club’s fundraising drive, enhancing long-term sustainability. For more information, contact Nick Bliss, Trustee of The CUBC Rowing Charitable Fund, at [email protected], Annamarie Phelps at [email protected], or Stephen Peel at [email protected].