{"id":3140,"date":"2018-10-31T13:58:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T13:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=3140"},"modified":"2023-03-22T12:40:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T12:40:28","slug":"a-gift-that-will-transform-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2018\/10\/31\/a-gift-that-will-transform-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"A gift that will transform lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In gifting \u00a31.1m to fund a 550-seat auditorium space at the new Centre for Student Life, Welsh philanthropist Sir Stanley Thomas OBE\u00a0(Hon 2011)\u00a0will contribute to the student experience of those living and learning in Cardiff for decades to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

Construction of the Centre\u00a0began in September, with ground broken by Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams OBE AM and Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan.<\/p>\n

Described by Sir Stanley as \u201cnot a nice-to-have, but a must\u201d,\u00a0the\u00a0Park Place site\u00a0will serve as a\u00a0purpose-built home for Cardiff\u2019s Student Support & Wellbeing provision from 2020-21. It will enable equivalent online services for all students (in Cardiff and across the world) as well as a single 24\/7 gateway to manage all non-academic student enquiries.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0its heart will be a state-of-the-art teaching, learning and meeting space\u00a0named after\u00a0the leading businessman, with Sir Stanley\u00a0having\u00a0enabled its realisation\u00a0with the\u00a0largest single\u00a0lifetime\u00a0gift from an individual in the history of Cardiff\u00a0University.<\/p>\n

One of the venue\u2019s functions will be to host visitors and local school parties as part of the University\u2019s programme to widen access to higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very important to us at Cardiff University that student support is accessible to everyone and contributes to all our students succeeding to the best of their ability,\u201d said Director of Student Support & Wellbeing, Ben Lewis. \u201cThe Centre for Student Life is\u00a0going to have a transformational effect\u00a0on what we are able to do for our students and the wider University community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have devised a comprehensive strategy to cater for\u00a0the\u00a0present and future needs of a\u00a0contemporary population and this\u00a0gift is an incredible milestone\u00a0in its\u00a0delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

With fit for purpose accommodation, the University is able to overhaul its student advisory services to lead the\u00a0sector, with the\u00a0Centre providing the\u00a0physical and digital infrastructure\u00a0for\u00a0increased capacity and flexibility, group work and long distance support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch ambitions could not be realised if it were not for extraordinary generosity like that shown by Sir Stanley.\u00a0His\u00a0kindness will leave a profound physical mark on our campus and have a\u00a0real and transformative effect on people\u2019s\u00a0lives for generations to come,\u201d said Ben.<\/p>\n

His comments were affirmed by Academic Registrar Simon Wright\u00a0(LLB 1995), who believes that such a gift will play an integral part in advancing Cardiff\u2019s commitment to student care and providing an exceptional student experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir Stanley\u2019s gift\u00a0helps us to deliver our vision of student services which are inclusive, accessible and holistic in their approach,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cOur foremost priority as a University is the human and intellectual health, wellbeing and prosperity of our students, and\u00a0the impact of\u00a0Sir Stanley\u2019s contribution\u00a0\u2013 along with that of all\u00a0of\u00a0our donors \u2013\u00a0cannot be overstated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more about providing a gift\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In gifting \u00a31.1m to fund a 550-seat auditorium space at the new Centre for Student Life, Welsh philanthropist Sir Stanley Thomas OBE\u00a0(Hon 2011)\u00a0will contribute to the student experience of those […]","protected":false},"author":1106,"featured_media":3141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiff-connect"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3140"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3151,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3140\/revisions\/3151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}