Bursary tickets available for Robinson College May Ball

After its first ever cancellation, Robinson College May Ball is returning with some important changes, including pioneering its first ever bursary ticket scheme. This will enable Robinson students on any level of the Cambridge bursary to buy tickets to the May Ball for £80.

This is a significant reduction from the original price of £99 – already one of the least expensive May Ball tickets on the market. As an affordable May Ball, Robinson did not have the ability to cover the project costs themselves and so have funded it through the generosity of alumni.

Credit: Aron Penczu

Anna Sayles is this year’s May Ball President and has been a passionate advocate for more inclusive May Week events. 

“Robinson May Ball has always been dedicated to keeping all our prices low. We wanted to take accessibility even further this year with a bursary scheme, but without raising other ticket prices to supplement it,” she said.

“Instead, we reached out to Alumni asking them to sponsor our bursary tickets and were amazed by the overwhelmingly positive response we received. Not only did we receive generous donations, but also offers to pay for the ball gown or dinner jacket rental of any Robinson students struggling to make ends meet.”

This initiative follows many other balls – Hughes Hall and Wolfson were the first to set up such schemes – and is reflective of a growing trend towards more accessible and ethical May Balls. However, Robinson is notable for widening access to students on any level of the Cambridge bursary, a step most May Balls have yet to take.

Robinson May Ball (credit: Aron Penczu)

Anna was also quick to highlight how other initiatives like providing free sanitary towels in bathrooms and having a flexible black tie dress code (whereby guests can wear any formal dress that suits their identity) were key to widening access to other groups across the University.

Lou Davies, recently elected Access Officer of the RCSA (Robinson’s JCR) had the following to say, “May Balls are expensive to almost everyone, and just because a student is only on a half bursary, does not mean they should be at risk of being financially excluded from a central event of college life.”

A student who benefitted from the project expressed his appreciation towards the Robinson Alumni saying, “The bursary tickets really help to encourage people like me to attend and enjoy events like this!”

The committee is also working to make the ball more sustainable, with 75% of food being vegetarian and lots of vegan options on offer. Toby Stinson, Design Officer of the ball said, “With some great projects like May Week Alternative out there, there’s a real positive pressure on May Balls to be sustainable. That’s why we’re planning to decorate the ball this year without buying any new plastic props.”

Anna concluded: “There are many issues with even the most ethical of May Balls, and we don’t deny that. What we do say is that with our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and keep prices low, it is still possible to enjoy the May Ball experience and support the causes that you believe in.”

Featured image credit: Aron Penczu