Open Cambridge kicks off on Friday with a programme of free and unique events for all

Join Cambridge Access Surgery for a special event exploring their garden and art gallery on September 7. During the event, you will have the chance to wander through the co-created garden, carefully tended by program participants. The art gallery will showcase a diverse array of works created by local artists and members of the CAS community, with a focus on nature and wellbeing. Each piece reflects the therapeutic and inspiring aspects of the natural world, emphasizing the importance of rootedness and interconnectedness for personal and communal health. 

A new exhibition unveiled earlier this year tells the incredible story of Newnham College women’s war work, at Bletchley Park and beyond. More than 70 students and alumnae were secretly recruited for World War Two codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, thanks partly to the personal connections of three Newnham women, Alda Milner-Barry, former Principal Pernel Strachey and Ray Strachey. Explore the lives of these extraordinary women in this special exhibition during September. 

Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre was founded by volunteers 42 years ago and to this day, they are a crucial part of the organisation. Discover the important work the centre undertakes and how the Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre came to be; from the global and national context that prompted women in the city to create the centre to the challenges faced in the present. This online talk is an exciting opportunity to learn more about CRCC and the incredible work the volunteers do and about how to join as a volunteer. 

A exhibition in the library of Sidney Sussex College will display the Candia Skull. Found in Crete and given to the College by a Rotherhithe Sea captain in 1627, it has been described as the earliest fossilised human skull to reach an English collection. Come along and learn more about some of the findings of recent scientific investigation on the 6/7 September between 10am-4pm. 

Drop into the Department of Earth Sciences on Sunday 7 September between 10am-4pm, and discover an impressive display of building stones, roofing slates, road stones, flagstones and decorative and ornamental stones that were used extensively throughout Britain and globally during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The display is part of a collection of 2500 specimens given to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences by John Watson (1842-1918), who worked in the Portland Cement industry. Free, brief introductory talks will be available, on the hour, on a drop-in basis. Staff and volunteers will be present throughout the day to discuss the gallery.