Happy birthday to Cumberland Lodge! It was on 5 August 1947 that a notice appeared in The Times announcing that King George VI had granted the Lodge as a residence for a new educational foundation.
The foundation was the vision of Amy Buller, who had recently published her ground-breaking book, Darkness over Germany, about the rise of Nazi sentiments among students and academics in Germany in the 1930s.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (pictured unveiling a portrait of Amy Buller) was Patron of the foundation, originally called the St Katherine’s Foundation and later The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St Catherine.
This was the basis for the present-day Cumberland Lodge, and we are honoured that Her Majesty the Queen succeeded the Queen Mother as our Patron in 2003.
Cumberland Lodge is a charity with a mission to empower people, through open dialogue and debate, to tackle the causes and effects of social division.
We provide opportunities for young people and students of all ages, to nurture their potential as the ethically minded thought leaders and change-makers of the future. These include our fellowships for PhD students, and conferences and retreats for Commonwealth and other international students from all over the world.
To support our charitable work, our stunning facilities are also available to hire for residential conferences, meetings, and special events. The Lodge has also been used as a location for filming, including The King’s Speech and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.
As we mark our 75th anniversary year, our foundation continues to thrive, and we have some exciting plans for our future. We look forward to sharing with you more details about how we intend to develop and enhance our charitable programme.
As always, you can find out more about what’s happening at Cumberland Lodge by visiting the What’s On page. Our next public event will be our Open Day on Saturday 3 September – tickets are on sale now.
We're grateful for your continued support and hope to welcome you to visit us here at the Lodge soon.
With best wishes,
Canon Dr Ed Newell
Chief Executive