The 100-year-old NIAB crest is guaranteed pride of place in the crop research organisation’s new Cambridge
headquarters, due to open in 2019, thanks to a donation from a royal charitable fund.
The £2,500 gift is from The Patron’s Fund, set up to acknowledge the work of the charitable organisations for which Her Majesty The Queen acts as a Patron, on the occasion of her 90th birthday. As patron of NIAB The Queen has followed in the footsteps of her father and grandfather before her. The donation will be used to re-create the NIAB crest which is part of the original entrance to the current head office, built in the 1920s.
NIAB CEO Dr Tina Barsby said: “The Queen’s support of NIAB over the past sixty years has been an integral part of NIAB’s history, for which we are immensely proud and grateful. To commemorate Her Majesty’s 90th birthday we will be using the gift to provide a tangible link between our 100 years of Royal Patronage and NIAB’s future developments.
“In 2019 NIAB will celebrate its centenary and it is the intention that this special occasion will coincide with the opening of a new headquarters, part of the re-development of our Cambridge site. But our wonderful colourful crest, with its traditional sheaf of grain, wheat stooks and clover stalks, is an integral part of our original building, opened by Her Majesty’s grandfather George V in 1921, and cannot be moved. The donation will be used to re-create the original crest in our new reception area, as a reminder of our heritage combined with the depth of our experience and our integrity painstakingly established over the past 100 years,” explained Dr Barsby.
Around £750,000 has been made available to distribute between nearly 300 charities and other organisations in the UK and the Commonwealth. The Fund received generous donations from a range of supporters; including individual donors, businesses, schools, community groups and the proceeds from The Patron’s Lunch, the event on the Mall last June.
Sir Stuart Etherington, Chair of The Board of Trustees for The Patron’s Fund, said: “The Patron’s Fund is very pleased to be able to support NIAB with its valuable work. NIAB is among hundreds of organisations for which The Queen acts as a Patron, which between them make a difference to causes and communities in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth.”