As last year drew to a close, our Dear World… Yours, Cambridge campaign hit a billion pounds raised.
The campaign was launched just over two years ago at the end of 2015. It's aiming to attract the brightest minds regardless of background or means, create the resources and environment for world-class research, and ensure that Cambridge remains uniquely placed to address the world's most pressing challenges.
The campaign total now stands at £1.08 billion, over halfway to its £2 billion target after just two years as a branded campaign.
The University surpassed the £1 billion milestone thanks to an £85 million donation from the estate of Ray Dolby, founder of Dolby Laboratories, to support the Cavendish Laboratory, a world-leading centre for physics research where Dolby received his PhD in 1961. The gift, announced in San Francisco on the 5th December, represents the largest philanthropic gift ever made to UK science.
Our work on the campaign continues, whether it be designing additional material for a series of global launches (such as the Frost poster shown above, designed for one of the USA launches), or working on the London launch last year.
For this event we collaborated with a series of key speakers such as Sir David Spiegelhalter, co-creating short speeches together and creating bespoke support films.
The event was topped and tailed by Stephen Fry, for whom we created a 360 degree animation based on the project's aims and objectives, which slowly rotated around the room as he summed up the evening.
Earlier in the evening, the campaign posters took over the railings outside Banqueting House in Whitehall and caused some consternation amongst passers-by.
For 2018, we're already planning for the next event in late February, involving new content and films, and are rolling out a comprehensive messaging framework.
A time-lapse film of last year's London Event by Karma and White Light