Founded by Professor Margaret Spufford, Bridget's Hostel opened in October 1991 with the aim of providing a supportive environment and 24 hour care to enable up to seven severely disabled students to study in Cambridge, at the University, Anglia Polytechnic University or other Higher and Further Education institutions. Funds for Bridget's Appeal which purchased the lease of a suitable building and covered refurbishment, were provided by donations from the Colleges, Trusts and other charitable foundations. Students living at Bridget's were supported through housing and other social services benefits, though these never in the event covered the entirety of the running costs. The hostel was on the ground floor of a converted former nurses home, Peckover Nurses Hostel, leased from the University, on the Old Addenbrooke's site, fronting Tennis Court Road. The hostel was managed by the Shaftesbury Society from 1991 to 1997, and then by the Papworth Trust. In 1994 Bridget's Trust was established providing a more formal structure. The hostel was formally adopted by the University in the same year, included in its development strategy and became the object of an endowment appeal for £1,000,000 in 1998. In the ten years 1991-2001, 35 disabled students were accommodated at Bridget's. The hostel closed in 2003 in consequence of moves towards the integrated housing of all students in College or University accommodation in the wake of Disability Discrimination Act and ongoing financial difficulties. In the meantime also, and following Bridget's lead, the University had established a University Disability Advisor, an Advisory Committee on Disability and, in 2000, a Disability Resource Centre. Thereafter, the Trust provided support directly to the individual in the form of grant aid.
The records relate to the establishment, funding, operation and ultimate closure of the hostel. They comprise a single series of subject files. File titles are recorded as found.