The 1935 Club
The Official Alumni Club of the CUGC
The 1935 Club, named after the founding year of CUGC, is our official Alumni Club, which was recently set up in October 2021. Open to all alumni, the Club aims to reconnect the CUGC alumni with each other and with the current members. The 1935 club’s events include an annual dinner and get-together at the Airfield to reminisce about the good old days. We hope to see more gliding pilots at the 1935 Club.
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Alumni dinner
We hosted our first CUGC dinner with the members of the 1935 Club on 5th May 2023. It was the largest dinner organised by the CUGC since 2005. We are organising the 90th-anniversary dinner in the spring of 2025. We are aiming to finalise the date and send the formal invitation in the spring of 2024. Please sign up for the 1935 club to receive the invitation.
Financial support
CUGC relies on annual subscriptions from its members to cover facility and equipment access. CUGC members must pay for instruction and glider rental at an hourly rate. While these costs are heavily discounted from the public rates, the keenest students can easily spend hundreds of pounds per month just to pursue our sport. We are seeking alumni support to help meet our ongoing expenses and keep subscription costs down. Your regular support ensures that CUGC can remain financially sustainable and continue to help our members go from strength to strength.
Campaign to purchase a 2-seater glider
Our long-term goal as a club is to own a 2-seater. Every year our members take more than 1200 launches with instructors. Our club has also been growing rapidly — from just 20 members in 2017 to more than 80 members in 2023. Owning a 2-seater would make flying cheaper for our members, allow us to organise more expeditions, as well as giving us more chances to fly in Varsity and inter-university competitions.
A second-hand K21 costs approximately £80,000. These gliders are incredibly durable and will last more than 50 years. At the same time, it will only take 8-10 years for the initial investment to be entirely recovered in savings.
It would only take a handful of large donations to enable the purchase of a 2-seater. CUGC is currently able to contribute £15,000, thanks to a very generous donation we received from an alumnus in 2023. This leaves us £65,000 short of the target. With 25% gift aid, we would need donations of £50,000.
If you are considering making a donation towards our 2-seater, regardless of the amount, please email us at [email protected] for more details (and cc Derek Wilson at [email protected]).
University Philanthropy Platform
The University’s platform is gift-aid registered, making us eligible to receive an extra 25% on all donations from UK taxpayers. More detail can be found here.
If you could provide us some financial support, it will be very appreciated by our current members. Donation can be made through the University’s platform.
For further information, do not hesitate to contact Preisdent [email protected].
