Wolfson College Record 2021

Letter from the Bursar
introduction
14
Crescat Pecunia Wolfsoniensis, as Isaiah Berlin said in 1979. Despite the challenges
of the last twelve months, Wolfson’s finances have indeed continued to grow: the
College’s invested endowment reached an all-time high, and the operating budget
achieved its first, albeit small, operating surplus for several years, with a surplus of
£232k being achieved in the financial year 2019/20 and a surplus of £451k being
forecast for 2020/21. In March last year it seemed that both of these outcomes
would be impossible to achieve, but with the kindness of our many benefactors
who contributed to the Covid hardship fund, and the hard work of our managers
and staff, Wolfson has managed to land safely despite the financial challenges of
the last year.
Since the sharp correction last March at the beginning of the Covid crisis, our
investment portfolio has continued to recover and then out-perform. It has grown
by 24% since the low point of the Covid crisis, and now stands at an all-time high
of £69m. This strong performance, coming after five years of strong returns, puts
Wolfson in a very good position to meet its inflationary costs and to continue
to draw down sufficient sums to support its students and Fellows: these will be
£1.77m in 2021/22, up from £1.66m in 2020/21. The College will also be able
to dip into its reserves to make progress on our aspirations for decarbonisation
and the continued development of the College, as envisaged in last year’s Estate
Masterplan by our architects Penoyre and Prasad.
Wolfson has long aspired to tackle the excessive carbon footprint that results
from its listed architecture which, whilst magnificent, does not lend itself easily to
decarbonisation. For example, Wolfson’s heating still comes from its original fiftyyear-old
gas boilers, and the majority of the heat is lost quickly through the single
glazing that defines the building elevations across the College.
Last year, in its new Estate Strategy, the College committed itself to decarbonise
as a priority, and agreed to spend surpluses, if they could be achieved, on making
progress with the many projects that would be required to reduce our carbon
footprint. This process began last year with employing specialist consultants to
carry out an energy audit and produce a decarbonisation plan. It revealed that
replacing the single glazing with triple glazing would reduce heat loss by around
college record 2021