480
Students live on site
10,000
Books borrowed from the Library each year
82%
Increase in energy bills over past 5 years
Buildings shape the way we live, learn and connect
Many remember LMH as their first home away from home: a peaceful riverside setting where new ideas were explored and lifelong friendships formed.
Since opening the doors to Old Old Hall in 1879, LMH has grown to keep pace with its educational vision.
We are custodians of a remarkable place
Today, many of our iconic buildings, including Talbot and Deneke, require urgent maintenance and refurbishment, while our Library needs support to keep its resources available 24 hours a day.
By caring for these treasured spaces, we preserve our heritage while ensuring LMH remains a welcoming and inspiring place to live, learn and thrive.
Building for the Future will:
Refurbish our historic buildings
Philanthropy has always played a vital role in developing the College - from the building of Deneke, the Library, Sutherland and Katie Lee, to the Simpkins Lee Theatre, Clore Duffield Graduate Centre and Fothergill Building and Lodge more recently.
As they celebrate their centenaries, our iconic buildings need respectful attention to address their aging infrastructure and ensure they are fit for the community today. In 2023, College surveyors estimated that LMH needed to spend c.£12 million on renovating the older parts of the estate. Works include replacing old boilers with more sustainable alternatives, as well as rewiring, plumbing and roofing repairs.
Thanks to recent gifts, renovation of 1 Fyfield Road - home to graduates, Fellows and our Wellbeing Hub - has been completed, and the Talbot Building has been refurbished. Further major works remain outstanding, particularly to Deneke.
We need to raise a further £9 million to complete the works on our iconic buildings and ensure that our estate can provide a comfortable, inspiring home for future generations.
Endow our Library
LMH’s Library has always been a place of possibility, where bright, curious minds from all backgrounds realise their potential. From the first donations of books in 1878, to the light and beautiful space designed by Raymond Erith and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, the Library we know and love today has been created and sustained by generations of donors.
College libraries play a crucial role for students. Our professional Librarians provide invaluable support and guidance, and each year we purchase around 1,000 new books, two thirds of which are requested by students. Unlike most Faculty Libraries, the LMH Library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Yet the Library's endowment of £1.1 million covers less than a quarter of these operational costs.
Our goal is to raise £3.6 million to fully endow the Library’s operations and secure this vital facility for LMH forever.
Opportunities to name reading bays, reading rooms and the Library itself are available.
“The LMH buildings are more than bricks and mortar. They are a home for our students. We need to provide a comfortable and inspiring space, with the infrastructure and facilities required of a world-leading 21st century university, to foster learning, collaboration and development.”
Bart Ashton, Domestic Bursar 2003-2025
Naming Opportunities
To mark LMH's 150th anniversary, a limited number of naming opportunities are available.
Naming a room, space, or post is a meaningful way to celebrate your connection to LMH and support the future of the College. Funds raised will go directly towards our campaign.
Whether you choose to leave your mark, commemorate a loved one or inspire future generations, each name becomes part of the living fabric of the College - where ideas are shared, friendships made, and lives shaped.
Opportunities £1M+
The Library – £2 million
Front Quad – £2 million
Fyfield Road Houses – £1 million
The Bar – £1 million
The Wellbeing Hub – £1 million
Tutorial Fellowships (variety of subjects) – £1 million
Opportunities £200,000 – £1M
The Committee Room – £500,000
SCR Terrace – £250,000
GP/Nurse Surgery – £250,000
Wellbeing Clinic Room – £250,000
(Reserved) Wellbeing Multidisciplinary Room – £250,000
Bar Terrace – £200,000
Opportunities under £100,000
Upper Gallery in Hall - £100,000
(1 of 3 reserved) Deneke Corridor Teaching Rooms - £75,000
Double Desk Library Reading Room - £75,000
Medicine Library Reading Room - £60,000
Single Desk Library Reading Room - £50,000
Lodge Seminar Room - £50,000
Library Booth (Upper Gallery) - £30,000
(Reserved) MCR Guest Room - £25,000
Student Rooms in Graduate Centre and Pipe Partridge - £20,000
To find out more about naming opportunities, please contact Anna Bates, Director of Development, on: development.director@lmh.ox.ac.uk.
“As academic textbooks become more expensive, libraries are essential for students, especially those from low-income backgrounds, to access the books they need and provide a quiet space to study. We are hugely grateful to all of our donors for your contributions to keep the Library running.”
Jamie Fishwick-Ford, College Librarian
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