Funded Programs
Donation Programs
In 1989, Charitify opened its doors. It was a place where low-income and homeless Calgarians could get basic medical care and referral services. Since then, we’ve helped thousands of people, but 30 years later, the city has changed – and Charitify has changed too.
Host an Event
Your charity event can be as simple or as complex as you’d like, from a small bake sale to a grand gala. So don’t let the word “event” intimidate you. Your work will be deeply appreciated, no matter the scale. Whether your project is big or small, we believe the key to hosting a successful event is organization and passion. We’ve put together a basic list to help get you started.
Permanent Programs
MC3 Graduate Scholarships
Any contributions to MC3 graduate scholarships will consolidate the endowments for those listed below.
- Americas’ Scholarship: the first permanent program established by MC3, this scholarship provides tuition and fee payments for an entire course of study for a graduate student.
- John Roberts MC3 Graduate Scholarship: this scholarship is for graduate students reading History, and was first granted in 2013, in honor of John M. Roberts who was Warden of Merton College 1984-1994.
- John Kirby Graduate Scholar (Americas’ II): this graduate scholarship was named in memory of MC3’s late President John Kirby (1962, right), who served from 2008 – 2019, a time of significant growth in MC3 activities.
- MC3 Graduate Scholarship for the Humanities: this graduate scholarship provides critical tuition and cost-of-living funding for world-class scholars to pursue their graduate research at Merton.
Reach Scholarship
The Reach Scholarship provides life-changing opportunities to students from lower income countries, by providing full funding for both tuition fees and living costs for the duration of a student’s course. It enables exceptional young people, who otherwise would not have the means, to access a Merton education and realise their potential during their time here. Merton has now had two Reach Scholars, and donations will be vital in enabling it to continue offering this extraordinary opportunity to students from lower income countries. More information on eligibility can be found here, and quotes from our Reach Scholars are here.
Choir
The Choir of Merton College comprises 30 undergraduate and graduate students, who sing at regular services in the famous 13th-century Chapel. Since the establishment of Merton’s Choral Foundation in 2008, the Choir has gained an international reputation for offering the best of choral music through tours, recordings and broadcasts. In 2020, the Choir won the award for best choral album at the BBC Music Magazine Awards for its recording of Gabriel Jackson’s The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Donations help to provide regular singing lessons for Choral Scholars, pay for music, and enable the Choir to record new albums and perform around the world.
Conservation and Digitization Fund
Merton’s rich history means that it finds itself the caretaker of many important historical artefacts. This fund allows Merton to conserve and digitize these items, recording them in a digital format for a wider audience to enjoy, while preserving the original artefact for future generations. Recently MC3 funded the digitization of three expedition diaries of Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine, the Mertonian mountaineer best known for taking part in the 1924 Everest expedition with George Mallory. Digitizing materials also allows Merton to enhance celebrations of its history, and in this case the imaging will be used for an exhibition and other initiatives to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1924 expedition.
Tutorial System
The Tutorial System is at the heart of Merton’s academic excellence, providing its students with unparalleled intellectual opportunities. It gives them the chance to be taught regularly, in one-on-one or small group settings, by world-leading academics who are able to tailor their teaching, give focused support and monitor progress closely. Mertonians regularly place at or near the top of the Norrington Table, with Merton achieving the highest average examination score of all Oxford colleges from 2006 to 2019. The Tutorial System requires a strong ratio of tutors to students, which can only be assured by securing each of our Tutorship posts for the future with a permanent endowment fund. The support of alumni and friends is vital in protecting the Tutorial System, and in late 2021 allowed Merton to secure one of its three Tutorial posts in Physics, in honour of its first Fellow in the subject, Professor Michael Baker.
Merton Hardship Fund
Established during the coronavirus pandemic, the Merton Hardship Fund exists to support members of the Merton community who are in need. This fund helps Merton ensure that its students have the financial and welfare support they need to successfully complete their students under what continue to be very challenging conditions. It also supports the needs of staff, and other members of the College community such as alumni, in cases where their circumstances change unexpectedly. Donations will help Merton maintain a strong community where we can rely on each other in our times of greatest need.
Buildings and Facilities
The varied buildings of Merton College connect us to our rich history, as well as providing accommodation for undergraduates and many graduates, and enabling the College to support teaching, research, and events. Merton aims to ensure its buildings are environmentally friendly, accessible for students with disabilities, and up-to-date in terms of materials and technology. Donations are vital in helping the College continue providing the best possible working and living environment for its students and academics.
Special Programs
New Graduate Scholarship in Music
(Target: $110,000) This year we aim to raise $110,000 to provide essential living costs for four years of doctoral study in Music, a financially-challenged subject which evokes our shared humanity across time and space. We will look to match this with University funding for fees, creating a full scholarship and a transformational opportunity. An opportunity to name the scholarship will be offered for a donation of the full amount ($110,000). In that event, any surplus will support the establishment of a second scholarship.
Funding the Regius Chair in Mathematics
(Target: $400,000) The Regius Chair in Mathematics was granted a permanent home at Merton in 2020 and has an endowed cost of c. £3.25m. Established by royal warrant, it was announced as part of the late Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations and is held by Merton’s Professor Sir Andrew Wiles. Sir Andrew is a renowned mathematician famous for his proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. MC3 generously committed to contribute $624,000 towards the full funding of this post, with now $400,000 left to raise. We invite further gifts to fulfil this special commitment towards what is the first Regius Professorship awarded to Oxford since 1842 and a prestigious magnet for mathematical excellence at Merton.
The Dobson Organ's 10th Anniversary
(Target: $70,000) As the College looks forward to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the installation of the widely-acclaimed Dobson Organ in the College Chapel – manufactured and built in Lake City, Iowa – we seek to raise funds to cover the cost of essential maintenance of the organ and associated activities. The organ programme at Merton offers unrivalled training for two organ scholars at any one time, they receive tuition on repertoire and improvisation, masterclasses from visiting performers as well as regular concert opportunities. We also hope to raise funds to cover the cost of regular concerts to be given by guest organists from all over the world. The first of these will be the 10th anniversary Gala Concert, to be given by Olivier Latry, the Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris in April 2024.
Helping our sporting Blues
(Target: $25,000) Committed to sporting participation and excellence and in light of Covid disruptions, the College is eager for students to have the opportunity to develop athletic talents that support physical and mental health. Whilst adequate funding exists for amateur College sports and Cuppers competitions, our funding for students participating in Blues-level sports at University level is inadequate. In the last two years, the College has only been able to cover around half of essential Blues-funding needs across 24 different sports, in a scheme run jointly with the JCR and MCR. We want to expand that funding by raising $25,000, enabling the College to support our Merton Blues for a five-year period, covering club subscriptions and tournament entry fees. Any surplus raised will help us go further, by embracing travel, accommodation, and costs of individuals’ competition kit.
Sandy Irvine's Expedition: Library exhibition project
(Target: $10,000) The College plans a special exhibition to mark the centenary of Mertonian Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine’s great Everest expedition. In 1924, Sandy was chosen for an expedition led by George Mallory. The expedition represented the third British attempt to reach the summit of Everest. It resulted in tragedy with the disappearance of both men. The 2024 exhibition in College anticipates featuring precious items recovered from Everest (Irvine’s iconic ice axe and oxygen cylinder), alongside carefully reproduced clothing. We seek donations to support the costs of exhibiting these unique treasures for the first time in Oxford. A College symposium will be held, bringing together renowned explorers and scholars, to which Mertonians will be invited, with access available online. This exhibition appeal follows a previous campaign to digitise Irvine’s expedition diaries and correspondence, generously supported by Neil Brown and Eric Braverman, as well as other MC3 members.
Refugee Academic Futures Scholarship
This scholarship will provide a significant opportunity by fully funding a graduate student – from any part of the world – who is a refugee or has experienced forced displacement. Building on our recent funding for Syrian and Ukrainian scholars, we are eager to ensure that our academic community can support students who have been displaced due to conflict, persecution or deprivation of their human rights. This scholarship is open to all subjects and is part of a wider University of Oxford programme, through which the recipient can receive mentoring and tailored support – before, during, and after their studies.