Cambridge Union Society

The brief

The Cambridge Union Society is the oldest debating society in the world, with a rich history and alumni across politics, media and culture. A small staff team led by Bursar John Brown supports the Union, while elected student leaders from the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University run the debates and student events each year.

By 2023, their Drupal‑based website felt dated and hard to work with. The Union wanted a much more modern look and feel, while continuing to manage memberships through CiviPlus, a separate system they had already committed to.

Agency Sanders & Jay led strategy and design; I was brought in to handle the web build — creating a new WordPress site that could showcase debates and events, respect the Union’s heritage, and sit comfortably alongside CiviPlus.

The challenge

We needed to move from an ageing Drupal site to a modern WordPress build, without disrupting the existing membership setup in CiviPlus. At the same time, the site had to work for a mixed editorial team: a small permanent staff and a regularly changing group of student officers.

From Drupal to WordPress

rebuilding the site on a modern, maintainable platform

Modern look and feel

while still reflecting a historic debating institution

Separate membership system

keeping CiviPlus in place rather than rebuilding memberships

Mixed editorial team

permanent staff plus annually elected student officers managing debates and events

The approach

Working from Sanders & Jay’s designs, I focused on building a flexible, robust WordPress site that could plug neatly into the Union’s existing setup.

On the build and structure side, I:

Implemented a clear content model for debates, events, speakers and stories
Built custom templates for debates and events so each listing is consistent and easy to scan
Structured the site so membership information and join flows can sit alongside, and link out to, CiviPlus where needed
Kept key evergreen content — about the Union, membership, history — easy for the staff team to manage

On the technical side, I:

Migrated the site away from Drupal to a tailored WordPress theme
Created reusable blocks for calls to action, featured events and highlight content
Focused on a straightforward editing experience so new student officers can quickly learn how to publish and update content each term

The aim was a build that feels modern and confident, but is simple enough to be handed on from committee to committee.

The outcome

The new Cambridge Union site gives the organisation a digital home that reflects both its heritage and its busy programme of debates and events, while continuing to work alongside CiviPlus for memberships.

A modern WordPress site replacing an outdated Drupal build

Simple publishing flows for successive student committees

A design that feels appropriate to a historic institution but works for day‑to‑day student use