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On Monday, Welly Giving Week 2026 begins, bringing the Wellington community together around one of the principles that has been part of the College since its foundation: creating opportunities for talented young people, regardless of their financial circumstances.
Wellington College was founded in 1859 as a national memorial to the 1st Duke of Wellington. From the outset, access was an important part of its purpose. Queen Victoria’s original vision was for a school that would provide an education, free or at very little cost, to the children of officers who had experienced hardship or loss.
More than 160 years later, that commitment to widening opportunity continues in a modern form through programmes including the Prince Albert Foundation, the Queen Victoria Fund and the Wheeler Programme.
What is Giving Week?
Giving Week is an annual initiative that raises awareness of these programmes and celebrates the role the wider Wellington community plays in supporting them.
Its origins date back to 2019, when Wellington piloted an online Giving Day alongside activities within the College. The response encouraged the College to develop the idea further and, in 2020, the first full Welly Giving Week took place.
Since then, it has become a regular feature of the Wellington calendar, bringing together current and former parents, Old Wellingtonians, pupils and staff.
Over the years, Giving Week has also developed its own character. House challenges and activities have ranged from swims across Swan Lake and endurance events to fancy dress, performances and even skydiving. Behind the fun and friendly competition, however, has always been a serious purpose: widening access to education and opportunity.
Widening access at Wellington
At the heart of Giving Week is the belief that talent and potential can be found everywhere, but opportunity is not always equally available.
One of Wellington’s principal widening-access initiatives is the Prince Albert Foundation Scholarship programme. It provides fully funded places for young people with talent and ambition whose families would otherwise be unable to afford a Wellington education. There are currently 43 Prince Albert Foundation Scholars across Wellington College and Wellington College Prep, with the ambition to welcome between 10 and 15 new Scholars each year.
Giving Week 2026 also shines a light on the Queen Victoria Fund, which provides financial support according to the individual circumstances of pupils and their families, and the Wheeler Programme.
Funded through philanthropy, the Wheeler Programme is a five-year educational programme working with pupils from state schools across Berkshire, Hampshire and Wales. Through mentoring, academic enrichment and personal development, it aims to provide sustained opportunities and support beyond the College itself.
Together, these initiatives form part of Wellington’s wider commitment to ensuring that financial circumstances do not stand in the way of potential.
Giving Week has changed considerably since its beginnings in 2019, but its central idea has remained the same: bringing a community together around widening access and creating opportunities for young people.
It is also a reminder that this ambition is not something new to Wellington. From the circumstances of the College’s foundation in the nineteenth century to today’s scholarship and partnership programmes, widening opportunity has remained an important thread running through Wellington’s history.
From Monday, pupils, staff, parents and Old Wellingtonians will once again come together for Giving Week 2026, continuing that story through a week of activities across the Wellington community.
For those who would like to find out more about Giving Week 2026, the programmes it supports or how to get involved, visit the Welly Giving Week website.
