The Mairi Hurrell Fund

Thanks to the generosity of our alumni, friends, and Fellows, the College raised over £26,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic to support Queens’ students who required treatment and counselling for physical and/or mental health conditions. The Mairi Hurrell Fund became a vital resource for students in this difficult time; this was recognised by the Fellowship, who then decided to establish the fund permanently. Since then, our kind supporters have given over £190,000 to support the mental and physicall wellbeing of current students.

To date, The Mairi Hurrell Fund has been used:

•For specialist treatment such as EMDR therapy for those suffering from previous trauma.

•To fund assessments for ADHD diagnoses and adjustments. There is currently a two year NHS waiting list for these assessments. Thanks to this fund, we can process ADHD diagnoses in just a month.

•We regularly reach ‘saturation’ point with number of hours for clinical interventions during Easter Term, so this fund allows us to ‘buy in’ some additional hours for student support.

•To produce material and information for all students to provide access to welfare.

Named in honour of Mrs Mairi Hurrell, who retired from Queens’ in 2015 after providing outstanding service as the College Nurse and Welfare Adviser for more than 20 years, this fund will provide lasting benefits to Queens’ students. Between January and June 2020, Mairi provided emergency cover in the Health Centre and her care helped ensure that many students were able to graduate during the pandemic. In July 2020, Mairi was elected to an Honorary Fellowship by the Governing Body of Queens’ in recognition of her service to the College. We are incredibly grateful for her dedication to Queens’ across the years.

Upon her retirement in 2015, Mairi was interviewed in The Bridge magazine and spoke of her fond memories at Queens’: