The PREVENT strategy aims to safeguard individuals from extremism and radicalisation.

Related documents:

Statement on Freedom of Speech

Code of Practice:  Meetings on College Premises

Booking events with external speakers

Use of Chapel Policy

What should I do if I have any concerns regarding extremism and radicalisation?

Students with any concerns should contact their Tutor or the Senior Tutor (senior.tutor@christs.cam.ac.uk)

Fellows with concerns about students should contact the Senior Tutor (senior.tutor@christs.cam.ac.uk)

Staff with any concerns should contact the Bursar (bursar@christs.cam.ac.uk)

Anyone may also contact the PREVENT Lead (senior.tutor@christs.cam.ac.uk) 

Further guidance can be found on the University website, in particular a detailed flowchart describing how PREVENT concern information flows in the University.  See: https://www.cam.ac.uk/system/files/procedure_for_raising_a_concern_-_flowchart.pdf.

Christ's College affirms its commitment to tolerance and freedom of thought and expression within the fullest extent of the law. Effective from 1 August 2024, and in compliance with the requirements of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, the College has adopted a Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech.

In the summer of 2015, Christ's Choir travelled to Singapore and New Zealand to perform in Concert Halls and Churches. A report of their journey follows, and is also available as a pdf here.

The choir’s long journey to the Southern hemisphere began at Heathrow airport, where a highly enthusiastic group of 22 met, with 3 to follow the next day. The prospect of flying with Emirates was well met by all, thanks to the large collection of films, games and renaissance music on board the spacious A380 planes (interior plus choir members pictured right) that we were due to fly on. A double bill of two 7-hour flights from London to Dubai to Singapore wasn’t enough to dampen anyone’s spirits, and with an outstanding lack of technical hitches, we disembarked at Changi airport at 8am local time.
Singing in Mandarin proved a challenge: Above - Teresa Teng; Below - John Ellse conducting 'The Moon Represents my Heart' at the Esplanade Concert Hall	Much of the choir had difficulty calming their excitement and failed to sleep on the plane, so the idea of a concert the same day as our arrival was a tricky one to overcome, but approached with the same steely determination the choir have always had. Thanks to Vincent Lam, a choir alumnus who has helped the choir a great deal, we had organised 3 concerts in Singapore: one at the Tanglin Club; one at Singapore Island Country Club and one at the majestic Esplanade Concert Hall. After our director of music, Professor David Rowland, had given an expert masterclass with local singers at the Tanglin club, our first concert featured a surprise for the Singapore audience: as an encore the choir sang our Senior Organ Scholar’s (John Ellse) arrangements of the popular Mandarin song The Moon represents my Heart by Teresa Teng (left). The song was enjoyed thoroughly by both audience and choir, and we used it again in all our Singapore concerts. Singing in the gigantic Esplanade theatre was daunting, but provided ample excitement for all. A very carefully crafted acoustic helped the choir to produce some of the best jetlagged singing ever heard over its long history.
Much of the choir’s spare time was spent purchasing overpriced cocktails in esteemed Singapore establishments including the Marina Bay Sands skyboat (right) and Raffles’ hotel. Beyond that, we explored much of Chinatown, where we were staying at the Beary Best hostel (which was as good as it sounds) and enjoying much of the local cuisine.	Considerably out of pocket: The Singapore Skyline and members of the choir aboard the Marina Bay Sands boat.
A fairly sizeable venue: The Esplanade Concert hall in all its glory	After a jam-packed 3 days and nights, we were due to head off to the next leg of our tour and catch a plane or two to New Zealand. An unexpectedly long flight from Singapore to Brisbane pointed out the flaws in our sense of scale within the Southern hemisphere and the choir were shocked again to find we were being treated to an 8 hour overnight stopover therein.
A quick sleep and a few cups of tea later, we boarded our final plane for a while, taking us to our first New Zealand city: Auckland. We had 2 concerts at the Community of St Luke’s church, Remuera and St Peter’s, Onehunga, both of which gave us very warm welcomes. After sleeping off some residual fatigue, a visit to Devonport on the other side of Auckland harbour was very enjoyable, thanks to all-round views of Auckland city and some highly recommended fish and chips
Pungent: Some of the more diva-ish members of the choir enjoying the view, despite the eggy aroma	Our next stop was Rotorua – a ‘geothermal wonderland’ of a destination. After a concert at a very friendly St Luke’s church and a Eucharist the next morning, our much anticipated day off featured a trip to Waiatapu geothermal park which was well furnished with an array of sulphurous craters, crevices and lakes. We even found a spot to have a swim in a hot lake.
Taupo was next on the itinerary, featuring another large volcanic lake, though much older and thus less smelly. A quick survey of the lake (which was incidentally the same size as Singapore) was followed by our best-attended concert in New Zealand, at St Andrew’s church. After a delicious selection of food post-concert, we said a sad farewell to Dave, who had led us well in all his musical integrity but unfortunately had to fly home. The next day, many hosts were kind enough to drive choir members to Huka falls (right) on the Waikato river connecting lakes Rotorua and Taupo. We then sped to the bus stop to move ourselves on to Napier, the next town on the list.	Understatement: The choir now consider themselves officianados after last year’s Niagara falls visit.
	Napier, having been hit by a big earthquake in the ‘30s was an intriguing location, with art deco buildings lining the streets. Our venue, St John’s Cathedral, left, was no exception. Our first concert without Dave was very successful thanks to the efforts of our 3 organ scholars John, Joe and Sid, providing excellent musical direction and some amusing mid-concert rhetoric on the subject of early 20th Century British composers.
Wellington was our next stop, where we had concerts at St George’s, Seatoun and the Sacred Heart Cathedral. We managed to squeeze in a visit to the parliament building (right) and Te Papa museum, with some choir members going the extra mile and hiking up Mount Victoria. We also got to see some of the more ‘trendy’ parts of the town, including Cuba street which featured a lot of coffee shops. All this was achieved against the onslaught of typically savage coastal winds and cold rain upon our heads.	Statesmanlike: Enjoying the parliament building on a rainy day in Wellington
Ahoy: The sun came out for our first day on the South Island	Having exhausted the North Island, we took a ferry journey across to the South Island, which proved choppy, and widespread queasiness ensued. Once the waves had subsided and the sun emerged, we got our first glimpses of the pitoresque landscape. The coach took us to Nelson, where we sang in Holy Trinity Church, Richmond and Old St John’s. Nelson was host to the annual choir football match, pitting cantoris and decani against each other in a fiercely fought battle for eternal glory.
With 3 previous dec victories in a row, can were the underdogs but were nonetheless determined. The initial combat happened between organ scholars John and Sid, scoring a continuous stream of increasingly effortless goals. However, encouragement from Rebecca; a re-ordered defensive formation and new presence in goal from one Rosalind Russell saw the goals close up and the competition put in the hands of the disorganised masses.	A brick wall in defence: Ros uses her height in goal
Astonished: Team dec’s reaction to my own headed goal	The play was described by many as ‘energetic’, with support on the side from gaffer and professional chain smoker Joseph Ashmore. In the end the enthusiasm shone through and a record breaking 9-9 draw was a fair result for all, with play terminated due to an injured John Ellse, whose damaged calf raised questions as to who would ring forth the 32 foot Bombarde on the pedals (my best organ jargon). Some effort from yours truly led to my appointment as man of the match, though in truth, to quote the British sould band Hot Chocolate, “Everyone’s a winner”.
Our penultimate destination, Kaikoura, was a stunning location, with mountains crashing dramatically into the Pacific ocean in the background. Our concert venue was the homely St Paul’s church on the hill, where the local audience amassed to see the choir sing a very loud ‘Silver Swan’. The next day was a day off, a rare occasion these days and one well deserved. Some members of choir splashed out and went whale watching off the East coast of the South island, providing spectacular sights of sperm and humpback whales. Others trekked round the Kaikoura peninsula, seeing a colony of seals who were out in the radiant sunshine. A very relaxing day was spent with ideal weather, and we even got to feel like celebrities, with some of the 3,000 locals identifying us by sight.	Pitoresque: Even these three couldn’t spoil the view
Team: Christ’s College Chapel Choir	The next day took us to Christchurch, which included a performance in the iconic Cardboard Cathedral (left). The evidence of the 2011 earthquake was still present, but the optimism of our hosts showed us that it was a city which is well on the mend. We browsed through the city before our final concert at Knox Church, during which Parry’s I was glad gave us a chance for some subtle forte-vs-fortissimo contrast which the choir has become famous for.

The choir performed at these locations, many thanks to all involved in organising the concerts:

The choir are grateful to Steinway and Sons for sponsoring their tour in Singapore.

Davidson was born in 1924 in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone.  His family belonged to the Creole minority who were an educated and elite ex-slave community. He attended primary school in Nigeria and in 1946 graduated with first class honours from Christ's College.  He earned his PhD in 1958 and then proceeded to study for a medical degree at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, Univeristy of London's medical school.  Following the completion of his studies, he lectured at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

Davidson was the first black African to graduate with First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge and he was also the first black African elected as a Fellow of a Cambridge college.  He significantly contributed to medical science when he was the first to analyse the breakdown of insulin in the human body, a discovery which was a breakthrough for the treatment of diabetes.

Beginning in 1960, Davidson was the first native principal of the prestigious Fourah Bay College in Freetown as well as a member of the Public Service Commission.  He continued his administrative career at the university level in Sierra Leone as first the chairman (1964-69) then as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sierra Leone (1966-69).

In 1969 he became the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, which he served as until 1971.  In that year, he became the High Commissioner to the United Kingdon, which ended in 1972.  He then became the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations under Austrian Kurt Waldheim, which he served as until 1982.  While serving as Under-Secretary-General, he also served as head of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

Davidson lived in Thornton Road, Cambridge for many years frequently visiting Christ's and was made a disintinguished Honorary Fellow, meanwhile serving from 1987 until retiring in 1991 as a visiting professor of International Studies at the University of California (1987-88) and the University of South Carolina (1990-91). He retired in 1991 at the age of 67 to Cambridge, where he died three years later at the age of 70.

Published work:

• Africa, A Subjective View, 1964
• Two African Tales, 1965
• The Truly Married Woman, and Other Stories, 1965
• Creative Women, 1982

The 2014 Tour to Canada was a great success, thanks to Rebecca Coombs and Charlotte Lapham's planning and organisation. A full report can be read here.

The Tutorial Office is situated in Room Y4 in Third Court, we are the records and administration centre for all Christ’s students. The team consists of the following staff members:

• Nicolas Watkins-Wright - Tutorial Office Manager
• Rosie Lang - Tutorial Administrator (Undergraduates)
• Louise Yirrell - Tutorial Administrator (Postgraduates)
• Anna Parkins - Assistant to the Senior Tutor
• Ana Rodrigues - College Nurse 
• Harriet Oliver - College Nurse 

The Tutorial Office works for the Senior Tutor, Professor Tom Monie, who is responsible for the teaching and pastoral provision within the College.

The College Nurse’s surgery is located in nearby on Q staircase.  Download a copy of the College map. Further details are available on the intranet here: https://intranet.christs.cam.ac.uk/health-and-wellbeing-0 

Opening times

During full term, the Tutorial Office is open 10.00am-12.00pm and 2.00pm-4.00pm, Monday to Friday.

Outside of full-term opening times can be more varied to accommodate staff annual leave. Our email address is always monitored, and you should receive a reply within two workings days.

Contact us:

Rosie Lang
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 334952
Email: tutorial@christs.cam.ac.uk

Louise Yirrell
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 334965
Email: tutorial@christs.cam.ac.uk

Nicolas Watkins-Wright
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 764656
Email: nw351@cam.ac.uk

Anna Parkins
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 334953
Email: st-assistant@christs.cam.ac.uk

Ana Rodrigues
Email:nurse@christs.cam.ac.uk

Harriet Oliver nurse@christs.cam.ac.uk

Postgraduate queries postgraduates@christs.cam.ac.uk

Exeat changes and queries exeats@christs.cam.ac.uk

Post: Tutorial Office, Christ's College, St Andrew's Street, Cambridge, CB2 3BU, UK

by Stephen Harrison, m.2006)

Gilbert Laird Jessop (19^th May 1874 – 11^th May 1955) is perhaps the greatest cricketer you’ve never heard of. Between 1894 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he played 493 First Class matches and represented England in 18 Tests, scoring over 26,000 runs with 569 of them coming in international matches. However, numbers alone - Jessop averaged an altogether unexciting 21.88 for England - don’t tell the full story. Jessop was an entertainer, a man whose ferocious hitting abilities delighted crowds and dismayed bowlers, a man whose scoring rate dwarfs household names like Hobbs and Bradman.

His most famous innings came during the 5^th Test against Australia at the Oval in August 1902. England were chasing 263 to win in the final innings but had been reduced to 48 for 5 when Jessop came to the wicket. In his characteristically swashbuckling style, Jessop immediately set about the Australian attack. A little over an hour later he was dismissed for 104. His 76-ball, 77-minute century is one of the fastest ever – had the rules of cricket awarded a 6 rather than a 4 when a ball cleared the boundary in 1902 as they do now, the statistics would be even more staggering. A bowler as well as a batsman, Jessop took over 800 First Class wickets before developing a serious heart problem whilst serving in World War I, which prevented the resumption of his career in 1919.

Jessop’s cricketing career either side of his time at Christ’s is fairly well chronicled by the links below, but the survival of end of term reports in the College Magazines of the period enable us to make some observations about his time at Christ’s. He matriculated in 1896 just in time to join the cricket team for the season and made an immediate impression, scoring 433 runs from 8 innings and taking 29 wickets for 263 runs. Most impressive was his staggering 212 not out, out of a team score of 281-7, against Clare. He followed this with 50 against St John’s and 109 against Corpus. The writers of the end of season report, published in the Michaelmas edition of the magazine, were effusive in their praise, describing him as a ‘most brilliant batsman of the hitting order. Excellent fast bowler with wonderful knack of bumping. Fine field anywhere.’

Given that he had played First Class cricket before coming up to Cambridge, he inevitably represented the University from the very start; this limited him to 3 appearances for Christ’s in each of the next two seasons. He managed 149 runs in 1897, including a century in a comfortable victory over Magdalene, but struggled with the bat in 1898, scoring just 38 runs with a top score of 29. However, he more than compensated with the ball, taking 19 wickets at a cost of just 42 total runs in 1898. The statistics speak for themselves to the extent that the writer of the end of season player reports simply wrote, ‘nothing can be added to his previous characters.’

In the winters, Jessop represented the college at association football, initially as a goalkeeper and later as a defender. A report of 1899 describes him as ‘invaluable’ and bemoans his absence (for unspecified reasons) from the side during the first half of the season.

By the time he left Cambridge in 1899, without taking a degree, Jessop had already been named one of Wisden’s ‘Cricketers of the Year’ for 1898, and would shortly make his England debut.

Further Information (all links are to external websites)

More information about sport in Christ’s during Jessop’s time at the college can be found here.

Wisden’s obituary of Jessop after his death in 1955 can be found here, whilst an excellent article on his career can be found here. His first class statistics are recorded here.

Complete College Statistics

Batting

Bowling

The Icon of Our Lord, St John Fisher and The Lady Margaret

On Sunday 5 June, the Sunday nearest to the anniversary of the Consecration of the College Chapel, the Bishop of Ely, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, blessed and dedicated a newly written 'triptych' icon for the College Chapel. The icon was crafted by Roy and Jenny Summerfield of Lincoln.

Interpreting the Icon

The icon is a triptych, which means that it is made up of three panels. It is written in the Eastern Orthodox style. It is painted with a gold-leaf background with warm and mellow colours for the figures. The common denominator of the face has been chosen.

The central panel represents Christ, who gazes forward to make direct eye contact with us.

The left hand panel shows Lady Margaret Beaufort, the Foundress of the College, who gazes directly towards Christ as Saviour.

The right hand panel shows John Fisher, who was Lady Margaret’s Confessor and the first Visitor of the College. John Fisher gazes outwards, but not directly at us. This outward gaze provides engagement and immediacy. Both the eye-levels of Lady Margaret and John Fisher are slightly lower than that of Christ, signifying Christ’s Lordship and divinity. 

Another interesting feature of the icon is that a Common Blue butterfly appears on all three panels. This is a small but vivid creature found in the British Isles. The butterfly is a traditional symbol of the Resurrection (the Title Feast of the College is Easter Day) because it suggests change and renewal.

The overall effect is that through our Saviour Jesus Christ, his followers (Lady Margaret, John Fisher and every one of us) become catalysts for new life and fresh hope, despite the trials and difficulties that we all face.