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Impact Report
Queen’s College, London is a special place. Not because it is the first institution in the UK to prepare women for academic qualifications, or because of our historic home in the heart of London, but because of the people. The women who walked the halls as trailblazers and the first of their kind in fields like medicine, science and literature. Our current pupils, who are facing unparalleled unknowns from social media and AI in and out of the classroom Our fantastically dedicated staff, who give so freely of their time, energy and expertise. And the community surrounding Queen’s - parents, donors and alumnae who consistently show their generosity through their service, wisdom and philanthropy
Queen’s is the remarkable school it is today because of the people who have come together to make it a special community of learning, support and collaboration In this Impact Report that is what you will find – snapshots of our community supporting one another. From our brilliant Brass Ensemble to climbing mountains to renovating spaces the stories in these pages are a glimpse into the heart of Queen’s College, London. It is a pleasure to bring the impact of our community to light and to showcase the incredible effect it has on our students. Thank you to every parent, student, friend and alumna who makes Queen’s a special place and for your ongoing and unwavering support.
In gratitude,
Richard Tillett Principal
A YEAR IN NUMBERS
£1.14m
Annual bursary support distributed
QCPS
£207k
£200k
Raised for the Queen’s Bursary Fund
QCL
£207k
£935k
Annualbursarysupport distributed Annualbursarysupport distributed
£10,450.81
£150k
Raised for building redevelopment
Raisedinadditional philanthropy,donatedto6 charities
43
Studentssupportedby Queen’sBursaryFund
Queen’s College Parents’ Association
The QCPA’s fundraising efforts have a significant impact both on our community and national charities. Alongside these fantastic causes, funds raised by the QCPA have contributed to the Queen’s Bursary Fund, new sports equipment, gardening club supplies, the Academic Festival, and the Thrive Centre.
£11,226
£5,000 £5,000
CELEBRATING 175 YEARS
While Queen’s has had a bursary programme for over 70 years, our recent 175th Anniversary Bursary Appeal highlighted its growing importance. In 2019, Queen’s set out with an ambitious target of increasing our bursary provision to support 10% of our students across the College and the Prep
The launch of the campaign was at Cadogan Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students to play alongside world-class musicians Each year, to encourage donations, our Principal and Head of QCPS took on incredible physical challenges. These included abseiling, wing walking, walking the Capital Ring and taking on the Three Peaks Challenge.
To celebrate this milestone, we invited our Old Queens to view a special 175th Archive Exhibition highlighting amazing artefacts and materials from our history. As a lasting memento of the remarkable anniversary, a mural of the College’s history was painted in the Mosaic Hall
The celebrations were ended with a whole school production of ‘Annie’ at the Shaftesbury Theatre, which involved over 100 students from every section of the College and Form V & VI from the Prep All these remarkable events helped raise over £1.2m from 2019-2023 in support of our the Queen’s Bursary Fund. Queen’s now supports 10% of students with need-based bursary support. We have always been forward thinking and pioneering in women’s education, and increasing educational access was the most apt way to celebrate 175 years of Queen’s College, London. Celebrating generations of women before and generations to come.
BURSARY FUNDRAISING
The Queen’s Bursary Fund was established as an endowed fund in 1951, but support for students is woven through our history as an educational institution. Providing a Queen’s education to those who would benefit from it is a key part of our ethos, and in recent years has become even more crucial with the cost-of-living crisis.
Philanthropic supported bursaries are the highest fundraising priority for Queen’s. In the 2023-2024 school year there were two extraordinary campaigns in support of the Queen’s Bursary Fund: Mr Wilkins’ Marathon and the Three Peaks Challenge.
Our Senior Deputy Head, Mr Wilkins ran the London Marathon in support of the NSPCC and the Queen’s Bursary Fund As a first-time marathon participant, he shared updates on his training while raising funds. Over £5,000 was raised by the Queen’s community in support of this huge endeavour from students, parents and staff.
Not to be outdone by a marathon, six members of our community took on the Three Peaks Challenge just after the Summer Term concluded. The Three Peaks Challenge consists of climbing the three highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon) within 24 hours. This is approximately 14 hours of climbing and 10 hours of driving, only resting and sleeping between the climbs. Their efforts were matched by our community raising over £15,000 - £5,000 per peak in support of the Queen’s Bursary Fund.
Our community contributed over £200,000 to the Queen’s Bursary Fund in the 2023-2024 academic year, and the needs of the fund will continue to be a priority for Queen’s College, London
BRILLIANT BRASS
At Queen’s there aren’t any ‘girl instruments’ or ‘boy instruments’ Pupils play every instrument available to them, even if it means taking up something brand new. Many students come to Queen’s never having played a brass instrument, yet we have two thriving Brass Ensembles.
Thanks to several generous donations in support of our Brass Ensembles, the Music Department has been able to elevate the experience of our students even further. For example, using our central London location to provide prestigious masterclasses from world-class musicians such as Stuart Beard. These masterclasses deepen learning and improve technique for our students. In addition to world-class teachers the funding enables the Brass Ensemble to perform in worldclass venues
Being able to perform at Guildhall regularly exposes our student musicians to further topnotch teaching facilities.
And it allows for loads of fun too – performing at music festivals and Regent’s Park Bandstand with sharp new uniforms. Beyond the London performances, the generous donations supported four pupils to participate in the international Brass tour, who may not otherwise have been able to afford the trip
For our bursary supported students, paying for individual lessons would be unreachable, however, benefactors support these individual lessons and the annual purchase of an instrument to allow new students to embrace and experience the Brass Ensemble. Not all the funds come from big gifts; in fact, much of the Music Bursary support comes from small donations at our concerts. Pulled together, this philanthropy has set our Brass and Music Ensembles up for huge success and thriving participation.
THRIVE CENTRE
Queen’s aims to take advantage of every bit of space we have in our amazing London location Formerly used as storage, 2024 saw the redevelopment of our Caretaker’s Flat. Connected to the College through 49 Harley Street on the north-east corner of our buildings, it was an easy decision to bring the space back to life However, it was a huge undertaking to bring the derelict former home up to modern standards for a leading education.
It took over three months to convert the additional 1,100 square feet While the space was being renovated our community sprang into action and raised over £157,000 to support the project. The newly opened Thrive Centre now provides a new meeting space that can be used for one-to-one learning, student meetings, or small group lessons.
There is new office space for our Learning Support team and an outdoor courtyard that students and staff can enjoy. Additionally, there is the new ‘Michaela’s Space’ named in honour of a legacy bequest by Michaela Bergman (OQ 1980). Michaela’s Space is a quiet environment providing students with a respite from the hustle and bustle of the College when necessary
Queen’s supports our pupils throughout their learning journey and these spaces enable personalised learning and pastoral environments All pupils need a community to bolster their academic and personal development, and the Thrive Centre, thanks to our many donors, provides spaces to build connections across the College.
45% Funded by philanthropy
