St Catharine’s College announced on its website (20/01) that the college had successfully raised a total of £12,237.75 from donations made by ticket holders due to attend its cancelled May Ball planned last year. 

The biennial event, and all May Balls and June Events across Cambridge were cancelled and postponed due to public health regulations imposed in the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through the combined efforts of the College’s May Ball Committee, JCR, MCR and management, ticket holders could either obtain a full reimbursement, or donate the partial or full price of their ticket. Donations were collected from a total of 227 ticket holders, with eleven individuals choosing to donate their refunds entirely.

Last year’s cancellations and postponements saw the emergence of the student-led initiative, The Big MAC, which worked with the University, The May Ball Presidents’ Committee and Cambridge RAG to collect May Ball ticket refunds for donations to two charities: The Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), a research centre at the University of Cambridge studying extinction-level threat, and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, a charity supporting innovation and improvement in patient care across Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals.

The Big MAC Appeal chose the two charities based on a survey issued to 200 Cambridge students, who indicated a preference for donations of proceeds to “Covid-related, co-benefit and local charit[ies]”. Hence, fundraising proceeds will support ongoing research at the CSER, of which includes the study of pandemics. Proceeds will also help improve Addenbrooke’s response capacity during Covid-19 with the purchase of equipment for its Intensive Care Units and in improving support for hospital staff.

According to a counter on its website, the Appeal raised £24,000 (as of 25/01/21).

In response to a comment request sent to JCR Committees, a spokesperson for the 2021 Pembroke May Ball Committee told Varsity that the College raised £6,415.25 through donations to the Big MAC Appeal.

In addition to CSER and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, St Catharine’s College has also donated proceeds to two other charities: Jimmy’s Cambridge,which seeks to provide aid for individuals experiencing homelessness, and Sahabat Anak,which aims to increase education access to disadvantaged children in Indonesia.

In a College statement, Alex Denny, May Ball President, commented: “The Committee is absolutely delighted to be able to support four charities that are especially important at the moment: whether tackling homelessness, improving access to education or responding to Covid-19, the work of these charities make a huge difference. We cannot thank our ticket holders enough for their kindness.”

Helen Hayward, Operations Director and May Ball Fellow, also thanked “the patience and ongoing support of ticket holders” in the online statement.

Between 27th April and 3rd September 2020, the College partnered with Cambridge Women’s Aid, a charity which supports domestic abuse survivors, in order to provide a total of 1,456 nights of accommodation for 23 women and children escaping domestic violence over the summer.