Impact

The Late 80s Fund was set up in 2011 as a way of encouraging Emma students from the late 80s to re-connect with each other and to enable today’s young people to benefit from an Emma experience in the way they all did. So far 55 contributors to the Fund have together generously pledged over £621,000.

The managers of the Late Eighties Fund have agreed to allocate monies to the following areas of need:

a) those whose family circumstances change (for example family income decreases through divorce/death of a parent, unemployment, or illness) so they experience unforeseen hardship

b) those eligible for support under the Cambridge bursary scheme

c) those who need to travel to the Middle and Far East as part of their studies for whom there is no University funding available and for which the College has no earmarked funds

d) Emmanuel students who wish to remain at the College as postgraduates to study for an MPhil

e) students who are accepted to join the TeachFirst scheme, by providing a £1000 bursary to help with the costs of the six-week training course

f) those who wish to undertake unpaid vacation placements

g) support of the College's access initiatives

h) students who wish to study for a PhD with a Fellow of Emmanuel, who could not otherwise afford to come to the College

Support from the Fund will only be given to those who could not otherwise afford to undertake (c-h).

Use of the fund 2022-23

In 2022–23 £35 000 has been disbursed as follows:

£2509 towards visits by the schools liaison officer and students to schools in Essex and Sheffield

£16,254 towards the College’s share of Cambridge bursaries for the 53 students who qualify for the maximum support of £3500/year

£5000 towards the funding of an MPhil in English in 2022–23 for an Emmanuel postgraduate

£5000 towards the funding for a PhD student in earth sciences, who is working with Professor Maclennan

£6237 to seven students suffering from financial hardship because of family circumstances or health problems

Some of the ways in which the Fund has been able to help students:

The criteria to be used for grants have been agreed with the College, although these may change over time if the College feels that other areas need more support. In 2023–24, another £35,000 will be disbursed, and we hope to have this amount or more available thereafter, although this will depend on continued, and broader, support from those who enjoyed the late 80s at Emma.

The group gets together a couple of times a year, at events ranging from dinners with guest speakers to less formal evenings involving food, drink and chat! We would like to broaden the group of people willing to get involved in the Fund. Feedback about events so far has been very positive, especially as they are a great way of catching up with old friends in a relatively small group. If you would like to receive future invitations, know of others who would like to join us, or have suggestions for events, please feel free to contact late80sfund@emma.cam.ac.uk

In addition to raising funds, we are hoping that members of the Late 80s cohort may be willing to help current Emma students in other ways, such as setting up internships or other relevant work experience, or acting as mentors.

Please contact late80sfund@emma.cam.ac.uk if you would like to talk to someone who has done this in the past.

For more information about the Late 80s Fund, please read this article which appeared in the Emmanuel Review 2012 and subsequent annual updates in the Emmanuel Review .