Client: University of Cambridge
Type of event: Awards Ceremony and Reception
Group size:140
Venue: Wolfson College (Lee Hall and Betty Wu Lee Garden)
Date: May 2017
Background
Each year the University of Cambridge recognises the efforts of staff and students who have worked hard to improve the environmental performance of their places of work and study by holding the ‘Cambridge Green Challenge’ awards.
In 2017, the awards were presented by Professor Ian Leslie, the University’s Senior Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor with special responsibility for environmental sustainability. He paid tribute to all those who had carried out more than 2,000 sustainability actions during the year by presenting 45 awards for two competitions: Green Impact and the Carbon Challenge.
Brief
Peter Lumb, University of Cambridge’s Environmental Coordinator was responsible for organising the event. He said: “We wanted a venue that would be suitable for an awards ceremony – with a stage for the winners’ presentations and a suitable setting for photos to be taken after the event.
“We asked for food and drink to be provided and requested that this should ideally comprise sustainable options in keeping with the ethos of the event – particularly reduced red meat, more vegetarian options, no unsustainable fish sources and reduced food waste.
“Initially we had some trouble finding a venue as several we had lined up to host the event were unavailable due to it taking place close to May Week. That’s when we found Meet Cambridge’s help invaluable in finding suitable – and available – venues. Once we had given them our brief, they responded very quickly and kept us informed every step of the way.
Event
“We decided on Wolfson College, which had the Lee Hall for our awards presentation and the Betty Wu Garden for the reception to follow.
“Although they had not hosted an awards ceremony in the Lee Hall before, the Wolfson team was very helpful in suggesting how the event could be run, offering a tour of the venue and answering questions we had in the lead up to the day.
Feedback
“The Lee Hall and the Betty Wu Garden were a great fit for our event. On the day itself, the weather was good and so we were able to enjoy the food and drinks in the garden which provided a great setting.
“The team at Wolfson was very helpful in responding to our requests for a sustainable menu – in particular all the canapes provided were vegetarian with one chicken option and they were all delicious. They were also very supportive on the day itself, helping us to set up and making sure we had everything we needed.
“It was a great success and we would definitely recommend hosting an awards ceremony in a Cambridge College.”
Image credit: Phil Mynott
