Leckhampton Appeal from Kevin McCloud and Tom Stuart-Smith
Dear Old Member,

We write to you, as fellow alumni of Corpus, to tell you about an exciting new project at Leckhampton and see whether we can persuade you to join in a scheme to support it.  
Leckhampton was founded as the first graduate campus in Cambridge, in 1961, in a house built by Sir Frederic Myers in 1880.  The concept of a dedicated campus for postgraduates, whose academic rhythms and lifestyles are so different from those of undergraduates, was brought to realisation by Michael McCrum, then a young Senior Tutor.  Today, fifty years on, Leckhampton has grown and is thriving to the point where the College seriously needs to add to and improve its graduate accommodation.

The George Thomson building, built in 1962, and the necklace of houses around the grounds have served the College well, but the need for accommodation close to Leckhampton in accessible and efficient housing is pressing.  Students should be able to live on or very near the campus, so they can join in the community life – dining, social facilities, support of fellow students and so on - that makes Leckhampton such a unique experience.   

The College has had architect’s plans for a new accommodation building drawn and approved and is pushing ahead with the building.  It should be open for its first cohort of students in September 2012. It will provide residential rooms and small flats for up to 40 students, and is positioned elegantly at right angles to Leckhampton House, at the edge of the sports field, integrating it nicely into the landscape.  

The College has put up most of the money for the project, by selling off one or two outlying properties that no longer meet its needs, but there is a shortfall of £800,000.  Fundraising for the project has also got off to a great start, with generous donations from alumni, including one to pay for the roof terrace on the new building, but there is still some way to go.

Tom and I, as Old Members involved in architecture and landscape design, have been asked by the College to support a campaign to raise the shortfall.  We are delighted to do this, and we are appealing to you, graduate alumni of Corpus, for support.  By giving £250 (£200 plus gift aid if you are a UK taxpayer) you become a Founder Member of the new building and will be helping generations of graduate students benefit from the extraordinary place that you know Leckhampton to be.  The names of all Founder Members will be written in a Book of Benefactors that will be kept in the Parker Library and go on display from time to time.

So do please support Leckhampton if you possibly can, by filling in a donation form and returning it to the Development Office.  May we thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and hope that you, like us, will soon be able to visit Leckhampton again and remind yourselves of this wonderful place.

Yours sincerely,
 
Kevin McCloud (m. 1978)                Tom Stuart-Smith (m. 1978)