By including Bishop Wordsworth’s School (a registered charity) in your Will, you will be leaving a lasting impact on future generations. Leaving a gift in your will is an opportunity for you to support Bishop Wordsworth’s Grammar School beyond your lifetime. 

Tax benefits 

As Bishop Wordsworth’s has charitable status there are also significant benefits for UK taxpayers to leaving a gift in your Will as it can help reduce the total tax liability for your family and overall estate: 

• Legacies are made from the value of your estate rather than from cash flow 
• Legacies made to charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT) 
• As an example, should you choose to leave £10,000 to a charity, this could save your estate 40% in IHT (£4,000), thereby ‘costing’ a donor's estate just £6,000 
• If you leave at least 10% of your entire estate to charity (and this can be spread across several charities), you can also pay a reduced IHT rate of 36%, compared to the standard 40%. 
• Consequently, if you leave 4% to charities, you may as well leave 10% since the net effect to your other beneficiaries will be identical 

For further information on the tax benefits of leaving a gift in a will to a charity please see the HMRC website. 

I owe everything I have achieved to Bishop Wordsworth’s. During my lifetime I can make relatively small gifts to the School. My legacy pledge allows me to make a much more meaningful contribution later

Bishop’s encouraged me to do the things I was good at, giving me a self-confidence and positive outlook on life which has never left me. I owe Bishop Wordsworth’s everything

To recognise those planning to remember the school in their will, we have established the 1890 Society, named for the year in which the school was founded. Members of the 1890 Society will have the chance to learn about the future impact of their contributions and will receive invitations to exclusive events throughout the year. This Society serves as a fantastic opportunity to connect with others who share the same commitment to supporting the school’s future. 

If you would like to leave a gift in your will to Bishop Wordsworth’s School, we strongly recommend you that you speak to a solicitor to ensure that your wishes will be carried out as you intend and that the changes you make are legally binding. Your solicitor will also be able to discuss the tax benefits that your gift can have. 

The essential details you will need for your solicitor are: 

• Registered charity name: Bishop Wordsworth’s Trust 
• Registered address: Exeter Street, Salisbury, SP1 2ED. 
• Registered charity number: 309475 (England and Wales) 

An example of wording you could use: 

I leave £X / a X% share of my residuary estate for Bishop Wordsworth’s Trust, Exeter Street, Salisbury, SP1 2ED (Registered charity number: 309475) for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the proper officer for the time being of the said charity shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors. 

Your Pledge 

You choose how you would like your gift to be used. 

A gift to Bishop Wordsworth’s Grammar School means you can personalise your donation to an area of School life which means the most to you. You can choose to support a specific area, such as capital projects, sport, the arts or a particular taught subject. Most supporters choose to donate to “where the School needs it most” to allow support to be given to where the School feels it is needed at that time and permits us the greatest flexibility to fulfil our educational aims. 

There are several ways to remember Bishop Wordsworth's in your Will: 

• Residuary Legacy is the gift of the remainder of your estate (or a percentage of the remainder) after all other gifts to family and friends have been distributed and all other testamentary debts and expenses have been paid. 
• Pecuniary Legacy is a gift of a specific sum of money. When making a pecuniary legacy, it is possible for you to index-link the gift in order to secure its intended value over time. 
• Specific Legacy refers to the gift of a specific asset (e.g., stocks and shares, life insurance policy, property or items such as paintings or jewellery). This can be an attractive option where the asset has appreciated in value over the years, and lifetime scale would attract a high Capital Gains Tax liability. 
• Reversionary Legacy is effectively a postponed gift. It allows a specifically named person(s) to benefit from your estate (or part of it) during their lifetime and, on their death, your estate (or part of it) then passes to Bishop Wordsworth’s. 
• Conditional – If none of your dependents survives you, your estate passes to other named beneficiaries and charities, for example, Bishop Wordsworth’s. 

However you decide to remember Bishop Wordsworth’s, we endeavour to follow your wishes and intentions wherever possible. Please speak to the Philanthropy Office, who can work with you to ensure your gift is practical and workable for you and the School. We have enclosed a ‘Sharing Your Intentions’ form to allow us to ensure your gift can be spent in exactly the way you would like and to ensure your donation is achievable for the School. 

Informing us of your intentions does not bind you in any way and you are not obliged to tell us that you have made provision for Bishop Wordsworth’s in your will. However, if you choose to share this information, please fill out the ‘Sharing your Intentions’ form so that we can ensure that you receive appropriate thanks and ensure your gift can be spent in the way you would like, and that your donation is achievable for the School.  

You may also wish to join our pledgers’ group, the 1890 Society. Rest assured your response, and any subsequent correspondence or discussion, will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please contact Caroline Popham at: cep@bishopwordsworths.org.uk