Ground- Breaking Celebrates Future Wellness Centre

The University of Nottingham celebrated with a ground-breaking event to mark the founding of what will become one of the country’s largest wellness centres. The new Cripps Health Centre will transform services for the healthcare needs of students and staff as well as those of the local community. It was made possible through a generous £9 million gift from the Cripps Foundation – the largest single gift donation from a private foundation in the University’s history. Members of the Cripps family joined Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Greenaway at University Park campus during the ceremony.

When it was built in 1969, the original Cripps Health Centre had 6,000 students and staff on its records. It now boasts a list of more than 41,000 patients – the biggest GP register in the UK. This new-generation building reflects a philanthropic legacy which began with Cyril Cripps in 1949 and has continued through generations of his family.

Robert Cripps, founding member of the Cripps Foundation, said: “This University attracted the attention of my grandfather and father 60 years ago. You can see with Cripps Hill and Cripps Hall that the Cripps empire is growing in Nottingham and we’re very proud to have an association with this University.

“We hope that this building will supply all of the requirements, not only for the student body, but the body that makes up the whole of the university and will provide the best of health support to everyone involved. It will be the best in this country just as the original one was when it was first built and it’s a delight to come back here.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Greenaway said: “This magnificent gift marks a new chapter in the history of gift- giving by the Cripps family. To have funded so many of our much-loved buildings is remarkable. Our University estate would not be the place we know it is today without their generosity and we are very grateful to them.

The building has been designed by architects CPMG and it is expected that the construction phase, led by Faithful + Gould, will create 72 jobs, with 50 staff working when the centre is up and running, of which 10 will be new roles. Work is scheduled for completion in autumn 2018 at which point the current health centre will be repurposed.