LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN
FRIENDS OF PETERHOUSE JUNE 2024
Dear Friends
The last twelve months has been a period of transition for the Friends with the planned retirement of Bridget Kendall as Master and the tragic and unforeseen passing of Dr Saskia Murk Jansen. Bridget was a constant supporter of the Friends and we wish her the best of health for a long and happy retirement. Andy Parker has already taken a keen interest in the Friends and the Council and I look forward to collaborating with him during his tenure.
As many of you will know, Saskia in her role as Development Director was the principal contact for the Friends. Many heartfelt words have been written and spoken about her as a person, academic, Fellow, colleague and enormously successful fundraiser. For my part Saskia was truly a “Friend of the Friends” who was instrumental in helping shape improved collaboration with the College and the student body. She was also an active supporter of our shift in focus towards health related grants and in establishing the Friends’ Wellbeing Fund as part of the annual College telephone campaign. The Council and I will miss her enormously.
Pending an appointment of her successor, I would like to record my thanks to the new Master for personally stepping into the liaison role with the Friends.
The annual Chairman’s letter is primarily a review of the financial year, in this case the twelve months to the end September 2023. The details follow, but I will highlight four points: we are in good financial health; the transition of our investment management to Evelyn Partners has gone very well; falling inflation has eased but not extinguished the cost of living crisis and has boosted equity investment markets; finally, the Friends continues to centre its support on health activities and secondarily hardship and social inclusion.
Pressures on the NHS have pushed out waiting times for specialist referrals and our support has therefore been especially valued in recent times. The full time Mental Health Adviser and part time student counsellor, both funded by the Friends, continue to be in high demand. Their services are at the top of the list of the Friends’ financial support in the opinion of both JCR and MCR members.
The financial information which follows relates to the annual accounts for the financial year ended 30th September 2023.
Grants made during 2022 / 2023
The total of grants made from the General Fund for the year ended 30th September 2021 was £96,672, an increase of £6,304 on the prior year. The schedule of the main grants is as follows:
- £35,000 for the full time mental health adviser. This was our fourth year of an original three year commitment which has since been extended by the Council due to its perceived high value.
- £10,000 for the part time student counsellor. This was the sixth year of an original five year commitment, which has also since been extended.
- £31,100 to the Senior Tutor’s fund which was an increase of £6,000 on the previous years to support particular individuals and health related activities. This fund is for purposes where no other source of financial support is available and covers a very wide range of applications including urgent medical referrals, financial distress and supporting College minority groups.
- £950 for academic prizes which was a significant reduction on the usual expenditure of around £4,500 due to a shortage of quality applications. The Friends have encouraged the College to refresh the promotion of the de Montmorency Law Prize and the VI form essay prizes, and others where we have specific endowments.
- £1,850 for the graduate year book, funded by a specific three year donation, and building on a very popular innovation originally enabled by the covid grant mentioned above.
- £4,000 for yoga classes which were very well attended as a form of stress relief and relaxation by a wide spectrum of College members. As the College recovers from the pandemic, take up of this activity has fallen and our grant has been reduced for 2023 / 2024.
In addition to the General Fund, the Friends Medical Fund was separately endowed several years ago by a single donor to promote research into mental illness among young adults. Professor Edward Bullmore leads the academic team at the University’s Department of Psychiatry and the Friends are supporting a multi year research programme under his direction, currently three postgraduate research posts at Peterhouse. £51,356 was disbursed to support the programme in 2022 / 2023 but this will increase as a new researcher joins the programme. Professor Bullmore and his team are regular publishers of research papers which are occasionally picked up in the wider media as they are breaking new ground in exploring causal linkages between physical conditions and mental illness. The Medical Fund should be fully spent by 2025 / 2026 subject to investment returns and we are in consultation with the Faculty and the College over a final research post.
For the current academic year 2023 / 2024 the Friends provisional allocation of grants broadly reflects those made in 2022 / 2023 with the exceptions of our support for a new pilot “bridging programme” to help new undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds to transition into College life. At the time of writing, this Programme is under development and is expected to require c.£7,000 / £10,000 of Friends’ grant. The pilot is expected to run for three years.
The Friends’ Assets
As at 30 September 2023 the General Fund was valued at £2,258,970, up 11% on the past year, including £204,335 held in cash. The increase arises primarily from an upswing in the global investment markets caused by the macroeconomic context. The decision to home only equities and avoid fixed investment Government bonds benefited performance as these investments particularly benefited from improved equity sentiment in the US, the prospects of falling interest rates, and reducing inflation. This performance was after fees of £9,000 paid to Evelyn, our investment managers.
The Medical Fund increased by 9% to £207,366 including £28,793 held in cash reflecting the similar expenditure profile and improved investment performance.
Overall funds were up 4% at £2,327,765 including £262,221 held in cash.
Income received during 2022 / 2023
Investment income from the General Fund was up 4% at £45,529 despite the decision to focus on capital growth rather than dividend yields.
Income from regular donations, gifts and standing orders fell 22% to £6,726 in the absence of any one off donations and legacies.
The College Development Telephone Campaign included a Friends of Peterhouse Wellbeing fund option for the fourth year. On this occasion it raised around £4,500 to bring the accrued total to around £20,000. The distribution of the fund will be subject to a discussion between the College, the JCR and MCR Presidents, and the Council. We are grateful to the volunteers who undertake the campaign and to the Development Campaign team for their facilitation.
Investment income from the Medical Fund was down 18% at £10,544.
Governance Matters
The AGM was held virtually in September as a pre cursor to an address by the new Master, and alongside that of the Peterhouse Society. The intention is to follow the same approach this year and this will be held on Thursday 26th September when the Annual Report & Accounts and Council appointments will be presented. The AGM papers and Accounts will be published on our pages on the College website. Physical copies are available on request from either myself or Ann Munro at the College office in the days before the meeting.
There have been no changes in the membership of the Council since last year.
Thanks
The Council continues to receive excellent support from Dr Stephen Hampton as Senior Tutor and the team in the Development Office. My personal thanks to the Presidents past and present of the JCR and MCR for their engagement, feedback and ideas.
I would also like to thank all members of the Council who give up their time voluntarily and provide wisdom, thoughtful guidance and ideas, notably Edward Neve, David Jeffreys and Jenny Quan, as Secretary, Treasurer and our lead on Investments respectively.
I wish all members good health and I look forward to seeing some of you at the virtual AGM.
If you have any observations or questions on the content of this letter or any other matters relating to the Friends, please feel free to contract me at the email address below.
With kindest regards
Ian Peters (Peterhouse 1977)
Chairman 2016 –