St Catharine's
Welcome to St Catharine’s College!
ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
Catz is a central college which is well positioned to be able to walk to lectures, the shops, and the University prayer room. The main site had a big makeover with a new dining hall, library, gym, and more study spaces in 2022. Also, we really just have the best nickname!
As college reps, we are available as the first point of contact for any college-related or general enquires you may have
Brother’s rep: Adam Riaz (ar2121@cam.ac.uk)
Sisters’ rep: Nusrat Razzaque (nr504@cam.ac.uk)
Pros
+ Best welfare taxi system in all of Cambridge
+ Very central location (most things are just a 10min walk)
+ Two 24hr libraries, one with a more modern design and the other quite traditional
+ Hall food is reasonably priced (not-for-profit prices for students), there is always Halal poultry served, and tea/coffee is free on weekend brunches
+ Purpose-built prayer room with a WuduMate™
+ Most rooms have at least a sink even if they are not ensuite (makes wudhu etc. much easier)
+ Active sports societies (but the grounds are not very close to the main site, 20min walk or so)
+ Porters are quite nice (not a given for central colleges)
+ Medium sized intake so there’s not so many students that you don’t know anyone but also not too few that you’d feel stuck if you couldn’t make friends with them
+ Second year accommodation is called St Chad’s- you can live in a flat with 4/5 people of your choice
Cons
- Paid laundry (but close to other colleges that have free laundry..)
- Main site college grounds are quite small and unimpressive (although some prefer this)
- Can hear church bells ringing a lot on Sundays, but you get used to it
- Underground bike shed is just more inconvenient to get your bike in/out of without much more safety
- Tiny kitchens (called gyps) on main site (no ovens or freezers). However, 2nd year St Chad’s accommodation has fine kitchens with ovens and freezers
Washing Facilities
At Catz, you do have to pay to use the laundry facilities, although it is affordable- it costs £1.80 to use the washing machine and £1 for the dryer if you use coins, or £2 to wash and £1.20 to dry if you use contactless. If you need to save those extra coins, I recommend keeping some 20p coins with you :)
There are usually free laundry detergent pods and liquid for use with your washing though, so do make use of them!
There are two washing facilities in Catz- one is located in Hobsons (known as Hobs) on the ground floor and the other in Old Lodge past Ramsden Room and down the stairs.
Muslim Provisions
Prayer Space
The prayer room is in the blue section highlighted on the main map. Officially speaking it is a multi-faith prayer room that was built with its purpose in mind with construction completed in 2022. The room is aligned with the direction of the Qibla, has a lobby with a shoe rack, a Wudu section with a WuduMate™ and is carpeted. The room requires keycard access.
Halal Food
According to the catering staff, all poultry is halal (generally they serve chicken and sometimes turkey) and you may request Halal for formals. They may still put alcohol in some dishes but this is now listed as an allergen.
Fridge/freezer Provision
All accommodation has shared fridge access. On main site (1st and 3rd year accommodation), shared kitchens only have a shared fridge with no freezers. In second year, if you get accommodation at St Chad’s, you will also have a freezer. You can also request a personal fridge for religious reasons which may contain a small freezer section (the college is able to provide this for free).
Ensuite
There are a lot of ensuites so if you request ensuite for religious reasons you will likely get one. On the main site, there are 8 rent bands with the top two having ensuites (these rooms are relatively more expensive to others). In St Chad’s (2nd year accommodation), there are no ensuites. Instead there are flats of 4/5 people with 2 toilets shared, both with showers. You may still opt to stay on site for 2nd year if ensuite is a major concern.
Sinks are present in all non-ensuite rooms on main site, which makes wudhu very easy.
Ramadan Provisions
The college is very wary of Ramadan requirements of the students and tends to work with the BME officers to introduce provisions that make life much easier for students during Ramadan. Provisions in the year 2021/22 included:
Pre-ordering both iftar and suhoor from the Hall to be picked up at your desired time
A temporary prayer room (the Multi-purpose prayer room was not built at the time)
Travel reimbursement for travelling to the mosque (more on the welfare taxi system below)
Welfare Taxis
Catz has the best transport assistance system by far. By calling the porter’s lodge, you can ask for a ‘welfare taxi’ to be booked for a given location, time, and number of people at any time, 24/7. The college contacts a taxi service and has the taxi sent free of charge. There may be a delay in how long the taxi takes, but this is always clearly communicated by the porter when booking. Of the few colleges that have something similar, Catz does it the best.
Concluding Remark
In conclusion, Catz is a great central college with good facilities.
Accommodation enquiries: accommodation@caths.cam.ac.uk
Porters’ number (if they are not at Porter’s Lodge): 01223338300
Signed,
Adam Riaz ar2121@cam.ac.uk
Nusrat Razzaque nr504@cam.ac.uk