Reflections on leaving a lasting legacy

Rachel, our head of fundraising, reflects on making a decision to leave a legacy that lasts…

I’ve been thinking a lot about the autumn of my life recently.  How will my remaining years in work define me?   What will retirement look like?   How much should I already have put aside in my pension?  Will I leave the world in a better place than I found it?

And, as parent to five, strapping, grown-up sons, how will I provide for them and their futures when I die?

Which brings me to the question: what actually moves someone, after taking care of those closest to them first, to leave a gift to a charity in their will?

Not just put a charity in when they are my age with a few years ahead of me, please God (full disclosure, I will be 55 this September).  But to leave that gift when they know the end is near?

Are they, like me, reflecting on their lifetime experiences?  Their personal circumstances?  Their values?  Whether they’ve been asked by the charities they support?  And how do they resolve these questions, the effect on friends and relatives, what those friends and relatives will think of them, and how to be fair?

When Helen (pictured) was updating her will for the last time, Caritas Salford was amongst the charities she chose to keep.

I was touched to learn that Helen held such a fondness for our St Joseph’s Penny appeal, having participated in it herself as a child.

Helen had observed future generations of children taking the iconic cardboard collection boxes home with them from their Catholic schools during Lent.  She wanted to be part of that legacy – handing down to young people the importance of charitable thoughts and actions.

When the time came, Helen’s choice to include Caritas Salford in her final donation, was a mirror of her own life: a desire to provide a way of helping children and families across our diocese who struggle today with disadvantage, poverty and homelessness.

For me and my husband, we need to know that our family will not lose out when we choose to help end poverty and homelessness in our local communities.  That’s why our boys will inherit most of what we have, with a small percentage set aside for Caritas Salford.  But more than that, our sons will hopefully see how we tried to leave behind a small positive mark on the world.

If you’d like to learn more about the difference your gift could make, it would be my pleasure to hear from you. 

I can be reached by calling 0161 817 2285 or on email at legacy@caritassalford.org.uk

Thank you.