Royal Roads University is proud to announce we have received a generous and transformative gift valued at $9.93M from the Bloom Canadian Alter Ego Trust 2020 that will yield expansive programming for the Salt Spring Island community and beyond. This gift represents the largest donation in the university's history.
The gift includes two exceptional acreages on Salt Spring Island featuring waterfront gardens, an orchard of heritage fruit trees, an architecturally significant house, outbuildings, and a foreshore lease, located near Beddis Beach. The property will benefit the Salt Spring Island community, RRU students, faculty and staff and the broader academic community. The gift also includes significant financial resources: $5.268 million in funds ($4.6 million of which will be endowed) for the ongoing maintenance and immediate improvement of the lands, and its activation through programming and events.
This contribution was made possible through the generosity of the late Susan Bagley Bloom, an environmental philanthropist and pioneer in land conservation and regenerative sustainability, and a long-time resident of Salt Spring Island.
Royal Roads will bring together students, scholars, researchers, writers, artists, musicians and other members of the community at the Salt Spring Island location to exchange ideas, reflect on life experiences and, through engagement and collaboration, grow and share knowledge. This will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, arts and cultural events and field trips and through classes offering a rich array of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary programming. An overarching focus will be to inspire changemakers to advance the values of regenerative sustainability in ecological, social, cultural, economic and political spheres on the Gulf Islands and beyond for generations to come.
"We are extremely grateful for the pristine natural lands from the Bloom gift, which will serve as a dynamic space for local and global changemakers-, artists-, scholars-, and writers-in-residence, enhancing learning and research opportunities through Salt Spring Island's unique landscape and natural beauty," says Philip Steenkamp, president and vice-chancellor. "Royal Roads will benefit from this gift as it enhances the student and faculty experience, expands academic opportunities, and fosters deeper relationships within the educational community."
Royal Roads will work together in partnership with Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust (SSIFLT) and Salt Spring Island Conservancy to steward and care for the lands. Royal Roads and its partners will also work collaboratively with the Hul'qumi'num and SENĆOŦEN peoples of Salt Spring Island to ensure their interests in the lands are recognized and valued.
Mark Horne, KC and Jan Theunisz, trustees of the Susan Bloom estate said: "We are absolutely delighted that Susan Bloom has made a real and lasting contribution to the rich fabric of life on Salt Spring Island. Through her remarkable vision and generosity, RRU will be able to create a home for learning, right here, directed toward finding solutions for some of the most pressing issues of our time. RRU has forged strong partnerships with SSI Farmland Trust and SSI Conservancy - partnerships that will provide a local nexus for this learning and engagement. Ms. Bloom's extraordinary gift will foster extraordinary outcomes. We know that Susan would be thrilled about the prospect of people, with so many different skills and backgrounds, coming together on the property she loved and stewarded for almost 40 years, with an overarching focus on advancing the values of regenerative sustainability, including ecosystem integrity, which was the core driver of her philanthropy."
Royal Roads, together with its on-island partners, will engage the Salt Spring Island and RRU communities to develop collaborative and inclusive programming aimed at regenerative sustainability, furthering local conservation efforts that support Susan Bloom's legacy. This gift will become a benchmark for community-involved stewardship, improving food security, addressing climate change, and safeguarding the farming traditions of Salt Spring Island for its residents.
In honour and recognition of Bloom's generosity and legacy, Royal Roads has named the primary building on the properties the Bloom Castle by the Sea', to serve as a centre for changemaking for generations to come. The residential building is a stunning example of West Coast Modern Style architecture, originally designed by renowned Canadian architect John Di Castri.
This gift, which marks one of the first to be announced towards the university's most ambitious fundraising campaign Leading with Courage will join others to harness the power of local and global communities to find solutions and connections that transform lives and the world.
PARTNER QUOTES
"We look forward to working with Royal Roads to collaboratively design a program that reflects the vision Susan Bloom held for this unique place and raises awareness of regenerative and conservation principles. We also commit to engaging the Indigenous Peoples of this land to ensure our program resonates with all communities that call Salt Spring Island home." - Sheila Dobie, Co-Chair, Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust
"Salt Spring Island Conservancy is thrilled to partner with Royal Roads University and the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust on this initiative, made possible by Susan Bloom's outstanding generosity and commitment to conservation and sustainability. We look forward to engaging with our partners and all our Island's communities, working together to support Ms. Bloom's conservation legacy." - Dr. Penny Barnes, Executive Director, Salt Spring Island Conservancy
ABOUT BLOOM CANADIAN ALTER EGO TRUST 2020
The Bloom Canadian Alter Ego Trust was established in 2020 and, through working with a variety of small and large non-profit organizations and foundations, makes investments in strengthening the cultural and ecological foundations of life in British Columbia. Its recent work includes investments in First Nations language learning programs, protection of ecologically rich lands, conservation of marine areas and wildlife protection.
