The College community got together to celebrate the meaningful commitment of those leaving a gift to Lucy in their will.
The Anna Bidder Society was re-established in 2015 to recognise those who have generously pledged a gift in their will to Lucy Cavendish. In 2021-22, it has gained seven new members taking the total to 107.
Hosted by President of the Anna Bidder Society, Baroness Perry of Southwark (Lucy Cavendish College 5th President), this year’s lunch took place on Saturday 22nd October, in Warburton Hall.
College President, Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins, opened the celebratory lunch with words of welcome for the guests.
After lunch, Baroness Perry said a few words about the Society and shared an example of the lasting impact of a legacy: Alex Saville, who matriculated from Lucy in 1990 and studied English, had a love of education, intellectual stimulation, and Literature. It was incredibly fitting that her legacy gift to Lucy was put towards an English Bursary to help talented students thrive. The recipient of the Alex Saville English Bursary said that her gift helped them to quickly settle into Cambridge life as, coming from a low-income background, the extra support instantly removed some financial concerns.
She then introduced a special guest speaker, Alec Russell, Editor of the Financial Times Weekend and member of our Foundation Board, who spoke about the process he undertakes to put the FT Weekend together.
Alec started his career as a journalist in Romania in the aftermath of the December 1989 revolution. He was in Bosnia and Croatia during the war from 1991 to 1993 and then spent five years based in South Africa as the Daily Telegraph’s correspondent. He then became the paper’s foreign editor for the Iraq War. In 2007, he returned to South Africa for the Financial Times for a second stint. Alec has written three books: Prejudice and Plum Brandy, about his time in the Balkans; Big Men, Little Men, a reflection on his time in South Africa in the mid-90s; and After Mandela, about South Africa under Mbeki. His writing has won several awards and his dispatches from southern Africa have earned him nominations for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and for British foreign correspondent of the year. Alec sits on Lucy’s Foundation Board which helps the College with its fundraising efforts.
If you are thinking about leaving a legacy, have already done so, or would like some further information, please fill in the short online form here or get in touch with Tom Hawker-Dawson, Deputy Development Director on tom.hawker-dawson@lucy.cam.ac.uk
We recommend that you seek professional legal advice when writing or amending your will.