King’s offers a wide range of social activities and sports, with our students managing over 100 clubs and societies through both the King’s College Student Union (KCSU) and the King’s College Graduate Society (KCGS). Societies range from the King's Jest – the College's comedy club – to the Apiculture Society, which looks after the King's bees.
Some clubs, such as drama, football, and the Boat Club, have their own small endowment funds, but most are supported directly by the College. Funding is provided through the Societies Funding Committee, and by funds raised by students in support of particular activities.
While enthusiasm is high, the total pot for distribution is small, and we need additional resources to keep clubs and societies a vital part of College life.
"My experience at Cambridge has been absolutely amazing, and I find myself so lucky to have spent it at King’s. Through getting involved in things such as the King’s Affair and the King’s College Boat Club by coxing, the King’s community has provided me with a truly unique university experience."
- Rebecca Vaa (KC 2014)
The first record of King’s rowing is in 1838, with a reference in the captain's book of St John's College noting that ‘several new boats came on including King’s, which is the prettiest of them all’. The current club was founded in December 1858, with its inaugural boat purchased the following month for £50.
Today, the King’s College Boat Cub includes two men’s eights and a women’s eight and four, as well as several novice boats for both men and women. Donations to the Boat Club's endowment help maintain the Club and allow our rowers to purchase new equipment when necessary.
The King's Review is a student-run magazine that aims to bring together the best of academic expertise and current affairs journalism. Although primarily online, the KR publishes in print form once a year and is stocked in bookshops from Paris to New York and from Berlin to Hong Kong. Donations to the King's Review are used by the editors to support the magazine's production, curation and events.
Funding for societies and extra-curricular student activities has traditionally been sporadic and disjointed. In 2010, the Class of 1985 Fund was established by an alumnus of that year as a means of providing funds for extra-curricular activities. It has a broad-minded remit to add to the experience and enjoyment of students at King's, and is intended to benefit undergraduate and graduate students equally. Recognised clubs and societies, and the student unions themselves, may be beneficiaries of the Fund, which allows us to support activities which may otherwise be difficult to run.
Although an endowed fund, the Class of 1985 fund currently only allows an annual spend of around £800. We would like to grow this fund in order that the Student Funding Committee can draw on additional resources each year.
