You can set up a Cambridge-based mailing list @lists.cam.ac.uk yourself without help from a Computer Officer. Your list's email address will typically be of the form maths-something@lists.cam.ac.uk (or statslab, dpmms or damtp).
UK academic mailing lists are handled by jiscmail. Jiscmail run a listserv which among other features allow subscribers to unsubscribe/subscribe themselves similiar to the University's mailman. To use jiscmail your list must meet certain conditions.
