Make a lasting impactRemembering the College in your will enables you to shape the future of Queens’ well beyond your lifetime. Bequests, no matter how large or modest they may be, are essential to ensure the long-term financial security of the College. It is largely thanks to the generosity of our legators that we are able to provide a world-class education for the 1,100 students who call Queens’ home today.
Queens’ is proud to announce that we have partnered with MakeAWillOnline.co.uk to provide our alumni with a simple, safe, and secure way to create a free Will online and include a gift to the College, should you wish. Click the button below to get a free solicitor-checked Will. You’ll also receive complimentary access to Capacity Vault, an excellent tool for safeguarding your Will’s wishes online.
If you create a Will via MakeAWillOnline, the College will be notified when you include a gift to Queens’. This greatly aids our future planning. Creating an online Will through the link provides us with valuable information about our communications based on when a Will is made, the amount pledged, and the type of gift. You can also consent to share your name and contact details with us, allowing us to invite you to join The Sundial Circle. However, we understand that some supporters prefer to keep their will completely confidential. If this is the case, you can still use the provided link to make a Will online.
“Life began for me at Queens’ 40 years ago and the friendships and memories, will I hope, be with me for the next 40. It’s impossible to put a value on all this but a legacy to Queens’ was an easy decision, especially as the process was so simple using Make A Will Online. The efforts of our Development Office in the last few years have been remarkable and I’m very happy to support them in the interests of our College and the future generations of students who will study there. Floreat Domus!”
Angus Saer (1986-90)
If you would prefer to work with a solicitor in person or already have one, we encourage you to do so. This is especially important if your estate exceeds the inheritance tax threshold, or if it includes complexities such as trusts or foreign assets. Additionally, if there are concerns related to medication or dementia, consulting a solicitor face-to-face is advisable. You can find a local solicitor through the Law Society website.
The Sundial Circle allows us to recognise and thank those who have pledged to remember Queens’ in their Will.
Members are invited to attend regular online webinars and an annual garden party at the end of June in the President’s Garden. As a small token of our thanks we send all legators a small pin badge. So please do let us know if you decide to include Queens’ as a beneficiary in your will, so we can invite you to join.
“I’m proud to be a member of the College’s society for legators and I’d urge everyone thinking about making a will to do so! It ensures that your money goes where you want it to. I had a wonderful time at the College and it means a tremendous amount to me, so I’m pleased to think that my estate will be able to give something back. I’ve also got charities, including Queens’, as my final beneficiaries, in case other family members predecease me.”
Ms Jital Doshi (2013)
The government recently announced changes to inheritance tax, namely the inclusion of unused pension funds and death benefits in inheritance tax calculations from April 6th 2027. Leaving a charitable gift in your will can mitigate the amount of inheritance tax your estate pays. We recommend that you speak to a solicitor or estate planner to learn more about how to make the most of this, thereby maximising the benefit to your loved ones, the College, and any other beneficiaries.
Residuary legacy – a percentage of the estate that is gifted to the College once all other bequests, gifts, and fees have been distributed. The impact of a residual gift to the College is not dampened by inflation.
Pecuniary legacy – a gift that is a specific sum of money (e.g., £20,000).
Reversionary legacy – the College receives the benefit of a legacy after the death of another named person (e.g., a partner).
A bequest in kind – property given to the College (e.g., a book collection for the library).
We encourage legators to leave residuary rather than pecuniary bequests so that the impact of the gift is not diminished due to inflation.
When your Will is drafted, please ensure you include our full charity name, charity number, and registered address:
“The Queens’ College of Saint Margaret and Saint Bernard, commonly known as Queens’ College in the University of Cambridge, Silver Street, CB3 9ET, whose registered charity number is 1137495.”
The nature of leaving a legacy to the College means that it is impossible to predict exactly when a bequest will come to fruition. Hence, we encourage legators to be as broad as possible with regards to the desired allocation of their gift. Most alumni will leave a gift to the Unrestricted Fund as this means we can allocate the gift where it is needed most, as and when the time comes.
We recommend visiting the dedicated Cambridge in America (CAm) Planned Giving website if you are kindly inclined to include Queens’ in your estate plans. CAm’s website contains a vast array of useful information regarding legacy giving, including the tax benefits of including a 501(c)(3) in your will and a comprehensive downloadable estate planning kit.
CAm’s Planned Giving Advisor, David Stiles, is incredibly knowledgeable and would be delighted to hear from you; he is contactable on plannedgiving@cantab.org.
In addition to becoming a member of the Queens’ Sundial Circle, alumni who notify CAm of their intention to remember Queens’ in their will are invited to join CAm’s legacy society, The 1209 Society, which honours and acknowledges our generous US-based legators.
If you are a solicitor or lay executor for a loved one, please reach out to Hannah Badger by emailing development@queens.cam.ac.uk.
The College’s bank details are below:
Account Name: Queens’ College Development Fnd
Bank: National Westminster, 21 Petty Cury, Cambridge, CB2 3NE
Sort Code: 60-04-23
A/c number: 54605342
BIC/Swift Code: NWBK GB 2L
IBAN: GB91 NWBK 6004 2354 6053 42
Legacies from members and friends of the College have made a tremendous difference to all aspects of College life. For instance:
“My Anthony L. Lyster Fellowship in Sociology at Queens’ has benefitted my research and my life in so many ways: it has connected me to an interdisciplinary set of scholars, a wonderful group of students and the amazing ideas that grow in conversation. It has given me the time and space to think through difficult and fascinating issues in scholarship and the broader world. It has given me an intellectual and collegial home, vital support in a tumultuous world where academic freedom and higher education are facing new challenges.”
Dr Ella McPherson (Anthony L. Lyster Fellow in Sociology).
Dr McPherson’s Lyster Fellowship would not have been possible without the generosity of Anthony Lyster (1949). The Anthony L. Lyster Fellowships are designed to help the College offer and sustain world-class teaching to small groups of students in the subjects of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Modern and Medieval Languages, Physics and Sociology.
“I received funding to travel to Ghana for three weeks to complete a mental health placement. I spent my time at Manhyia Government Hospital in Kumasi, observing consultations, updating patient notes, and prescribing medications. I was able to learn so much about the history and development of mental healthcare in Ghana, and how this compares to mental healthcare in the UK. Having the opportunity to complete this project has really helped me to thrive academically as I was able to learn a great deal from the doctors and psychiatric nurses about the possible neurological bases to conditions such as Schizophrenia.
When not at the project, I spent my time living with a local family, and as such, I learnt so much about the Ghanaian culture and even had the opportunity to travel to the Cape Coast and Mole National Park to really embrace everything that the country has to offer – something that wouldn’t have been possible without the support I received.”
(Charlotte Rye, 2019)
Charlotte was awarded this funding from The Treglown Fund for undergraduate and graduate travel abroad to undertake worthwhile projects. This was made possible by a gift from the estate of Mr Geoffrey Treglown (1959).
After achieving a distinction in her MPhil, Charlotte has now embarked upon a PhD in Psychology at Queens’ and was recently awarded PhD Student of the Year.
For further information regarding legacy giving please contact Hannah Badger (Senior Development Officer, Major Gifts and Legacies) at development@queens.cam.ac.uk
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