£60m Fundraising drive planned

Yorkshire's largest university is planning a campaign to raise £60m to revive "the philanthropic tradition on which it was built."

By The Newsroom

Published 17th Feb 2010, 10:23 BST

Updated 17th Feb 2010, 10:25 BST

Leeds University's vice chancellor Prof Michael Arthur has told staff that the institution aims to launch the drive publicly in 2011-12 by which time it aims to have already raised half this amount.

However he said that this was not a "hastily rushed response" to the public spending cuts.

He said: "The fundraising working target has been set at 60m over five years – a relatively modest sum against an annual turnover of some 500m – but it would more than double the amount we have every year to spend on strategic developments, so it will have a massive impact."

A feasibility study has already been carried out.

Major donations have already helped to shape the university. The Marjorie and Arnold Ziff building was opened in May last year in the city centre as part of the university's 300m campus redevelopment plan.

Yorkshire