Don Stebbings, who had been the custodian in the Divinity Faculty from 1985 to 2015, sadly died in November 2017, a little more than two years after his retirement.

Don was one of the Faculty’s great characters, both in its old premises in St John’s Street and more recently in its modern building on the Sidgwick Site. Although he was employed as the custodian of the Faculty, with responsibility for the upkeep and general maintenance of the building, duties in which he took real pride and fulfilled with aplomb, he saw his job in broader terms. So as well as keeping an eye on the buildings, he also enjoyed interacting with students. This was either through banter, jokes and witticisms of various kinds or in ways that were more straightforwardly pastoral: listening to students’ concerns and worries.

As a sign of the Faculty’s esteem for and gratitude to, Don for his outstanding service over many years, the Faculty Board voted overwhelmingly to seek to raise a sum of money in his memory. In honour of Don’s concern for students' welfare, we would like to establish a fund whose proceeds could be used for student support.