PCS 285/7
FROM:
SF Howarth
DATE:
CC:
Cultural Relations Department
1 July 1988
PS/Mr Eggar
Mr Morris, HKD
Mr Stickels, ODA
Private Secretary
THE CAMBRIDGE COMMONWEALTH TRUST AND THE CAMBRIDGE OVERSEAS TRUST
Ą
1. Private Office's minute of 29 June to the Secretary of State reported a proposal to invite him to become a Trustee of the projected Cambridge Overseas Trust.
2.
The existing Cambridge Commonwealth Trust (CCT) is indeed well established and very successfully funds Commonwealth students to study at Cambridge. The Prince of Wales is the Trust's Chairman and Dr Anil Seal, of Indian origin, is its indefatigable Director. DI Seal is persuasive and has been impressively successful in drumming up financial support for the CCT from a variety of sources.
3. Both the Diplomatic Wing and the ODA have cooperated with the Trust for several years in funding overseas students from Commonwealth countries. In 1987/88 the ODA's Shared Scholarship Scheme provided the Trust with 50 new awards from the Scheme 's annual available total of 150; the Diplomatic Wing part-funded some students with the Trust. The CCT are also linked with us and Tate and Lyle in a very successful jointly funded scholarship
scheme.
Dr Seal's proposal for an Overseas Trust is clearly designed to get round the CCT's limitations of being able to fund only
Commonwealth students. There would seem every advantage in
supporting the new Trust. I recommend that the Secretary of State accept the invitation to become a Trustee.
3 F Howarth
ت