Credit: Glasgow West End
Reporter
The Pears Foundation donated £5 million to the University of Glasgow for the construction of the new building
The University of Glasgow has received a £5 million donation from the Pears Foundation which will be used to aid in the construction of a new building on campus designed to house the University’s Institute for Health and Wellbeing. The building will be named after Clarice Pears, who was born and raised in Glasgow.
The Pears control one of the largest family-owned businesses in the UK. As the business’s charitable arm, the Pears foundation invests an estimated £20 million in charitable projects every year. In recognition of the Pears Foundation’s contribution to the project, the new building will bear the name of Clarice Pears, the Glaswegian mother of the organisation’s founders. The family has said that their mother’s connection to the city was a deciding factor in their decision to invest in the project.
The Clarice Pears Building will be constructed on the former site of the western infirmary, just south of University Avenue. The project is part of the University’s wider campus redevelopment scheme which has seen the University invest an estimated £1 billion on various projects across campus.
Sir Anton Muscatelli, the University’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the Pears Foundation’s contribution to the project, stating: “We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from Pears Foundation which will revolutionise the study of health and wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, helping to build collaborations and inspire world changing research.
“The Institute’s work is already having a major impact on public health policy in Glasgow, Scotland, and internationally, and this new facility will mean we can do more.”
Professor Jill Pell, the director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing, also welcomed the donation. Regarding the significance of the project to the work of the Institute, Pell said: “The Clarice Pears Building will be transformative in how we support and promote collaboration both internally and with external partners. It will mean we can bring our staff together under one roof and make the University a more effective and attractive place to undertake world-leading research and teaching.”
