If you have pledged to leave a gift to the University of Bristol in your Will, or have expressed an interest in doing so, you may well be familiar with the annual celebration we hold at the end of May in Bristol, known as Charter Day. We use this auspicious date in the calendar for our flagship celebration of our alumni and friends who are keen to ensure Bristol’s brilliance lives on after they’ve gone.
On May 24 1909 King Edward VII granted a Royal Charter to Bristol, formally establishing it as a university and allowing it to confer degrees. The anniversary of this occasion is celebrated every year on the third Wednesday in May, most notably by the Planned Giving team who invite legacy pledgers to a very special event. During the day, we gather together at 1pm to collectively listen to the ringing of the Great George bell in the tower of the Wills Memorial Building, which sounds for five minutes to mark the occasion. You can read more about the history of the university on our main web pages.
If you’ve never been to Charter Day, you might be wondering just exactly what happens, apart from bell ringing! This year we welcomed our guests to the event mid-morning in glorious sunshine, at Goldney Hall, which meant our attendees could also enjoy the wonderful grounds and Grotto.
Starting with refreshments guests had the chance to meet other alumni and friends of the University, and generally enjoy the surroundings of the beautiful orangery at Goldney. People came from all over the UK and further afield with their partners, friends, carers or on their own, and everyone was warmly welcomed and able to connect with like-minded people in the room. If you’ve been invited to Charter Day in the past but weren’t sure about attending, we’re confident you’ll have a lovely day surrounded by fellow alumni and friends.
The early part of Charter Day has talks from eminent staff at the University. This year we had fantastic presentations from Professor Chrissie Thirlwell, Head of Bristol Medical School, and Professor Jonathan Rossiter from the Robotics Laboratory, both of whom went down an absolute storm with our attendees. After a sit down lunch guests spent a wonderful couple of hours enjoying stalls set up in Goldney House to showcase various University initiatives. These included Theatre & Special Collections, Sustainable Energy, Ophthalmology, Rockets & Space Travel and Soft Robotics. By far and away the most popular was Professor Rossiter’s Soft Robotics stall – he and his team had a queue of people lining up to find out more about ‘The Right Trousers’ and the enthusiasm for their research in particular was palpable in the crowd. Their work on wearable technology, which is intended to support those with mobility issues, was a very tangible example of how Bristol’s research is at the forefront of creating solutions for everyday real-life problems.
A final round of refreshments was enjoyed by everyone before heading off home, buzzing with excitement at having been given an insider’s view of the fantastic work currently being done at Bristol. If you’d like to know more about the event, or about leaving a gift in your Will, do reach out to the team.
If you would like to support Bristol by leaving a gift in your Will, you can contact the Planned Giving Team. Legacy gifts over the years have enabled a variety of wonderful things including scholarships, PhDs, and research. You can ensure that Bristol’s excellence lives on by making a gift in your Will today.
Details on how to leave a gift in your Will are available online.