The Power of a Legacy

THE POWER OF A LEGACY

THE KEY TO OPENING OUR DOORS WIDER

Year on year, it is a privilege to witness our girls growing in confidence, making friends for life, and maturing as hopeful, young women ready to meet the challenges ahead.

This is why we believe that any girl who can thrive here should be able to apply for a place with a genuine chance of benefiting from this life-changing opportunity.

Now, through our Red Cloak Award scheme—a fund for girls whose families would normally consider Queen Anne’s to be out of reach—we plan to increase the amount available each year, so that in time we do not have to turn away talented and financially deserving girls.

a growing sentiment

There is a growing sentiment that if ever there was a time for helping out the next generation, this is it. Leaving a legacy to Queen Anne’s is one clear way of doing just this.

We already offer means-tested financial support to girls from a wide range of backgrounds but we provide this help against a backdrop of increasing costs, and the need keeps growing.

Julia Harrington Headmistress

If ever there was a time for helping the next generation, this is it.

goal: to build

fund to sustain

A CONCERTED EFFORT

When a school benefits from generosity it becomes stronger and its ethos becomes more sustainable.

Over the years, donations and legacies have helped us fund projects we could not have achieved on our own.

More specifically, philanthropy has allowed us to provide places for girls who could not have dreamed of a Queen Anne’s education without a bursary.

Our long-term goal

Fundraising from year to year is one way to support our bursary programme and our development. But our long-term goal is to grow an endowment fund.

We have made a start. Thanks to outstanding generosity, we now have almost £1M in endowed funds. This is very encouraging and is

already allowing us to fund Red Cloak awards on a sustainable basis.

If we could increase our endowment tenfold we could fund 20 Red Cloak awards at any one time, forever. This will obviously take time but we believe that by involving our Society members in our vision and encouraging their support—especially in the form of legacies—it will be possible.

Generosity in the form of legacies: the most realistic approach.

Jonnie Noakes Chairman of Governors

OPPORTUNITIES

A bursary needs to be truly generous if it is to attract someone who could not normally dream of a Queen Anne’s education.

This is the aim of our recently launched Red Cloak Award scheme: to increase the help we can provide for girls from local schools who demonstrate real potential and who need very significant help with the fees, e.g. bursaries of 100%+.

In September 2020, the first beneficiary of this scheme joined the school.

Opposite: Crystal, our first Red Cloak Award beneficiay, provides her initial reflections on life at Queen Anne’s.

Thanks to a recent legacy we can bring forward our next Red Cloak Award.

What does winning a Red Cloak Award mean for you?

I feel like I have achieved an important goal and I should be proud of this. It gives me peace of mind to concentrate on my studies.

What are the teachers like at Queen Anne’s?

The teachers are nice and they inspire us to learn. They encourage us to work hard. Sometimes this makes me feel slightly tired!

What are your favourite subjects and activities at Queen Anne’s?

I like maths and chemistry. I love tennis and I like to do drama.

What would you say to a girl who is thinking of applying for a Red Cloak Award?

I would tell them to study hard, even when they are feeling unmotivated, because perseverance is necessary if you want to do well. You have to believe in yourself and then go for it.

What would you say to anyone considering leaving a legacy to help fund more Red Cloak Awards?

I would say it’s the best thing that you can do to help really clever girls from low income families, who would otherwise not be able to study at a school like Queen Anne’s.

I will never forget the generosity that is funding my Red Cloak Award.

FACILITIES

Surroundings and facilities to inspire generations

TO HAVE AND TO SHARE

First rate facilities enable us to inspire our pupils, recruit and retain the best teachers, and prepare for the future.

We also use our facilities to provide opportunities for local state primary, secondary schools and clubs.

We have a wide-ranging master plan for development. Over the last two decades we have invested in a new science centre, a music school and a Sixth Form Centre. Our next facilities project will focus on sport.

Society members have supported our development projects with both donations and legacies.

Sharing our facilities

Local state schools and clubs enjoy the use of our facilities in the following ways:

Music Weekly enrichment lessons and regular competitions

Art Weekly life drawing classes

Drama Joint productions

Science Competition days

Psychology Revision days and lectures English Oxbridge preparation

generations to come.

Some Society members wish to link their support to something physical.

DIRECT YOUR SUPPORT

Some people direct their bequests

specifically to the endowment fund, others specify areas of school life they wish to support, e.g. music, science, sport or drama.

Many choose to leave the ultimate decision to the school on the basis that one cannot easily foresee where the funds will have the most beneficial impact when the time comes.I had such a good education with small classes and kind, patient teachers.

The music appreciation lessons and choir have stayed with me and given me a lifelong love of music and singing. I also enjoyed sports, which were strongly encouraged with “Early Field” and “Sergeants”. I was on the 1st team for lacrosse, tennis and cricket.

Deportment and manners were important and there was an excellent, daily grounding in the Christian faith.

I appreciate everything that I gained from my time at Queen Anne’s. This is why I have been glad to be able to share some of the funds I still have in the UK to support the bursary fund, to help give the experience of a Queen Anne’s education to girls who might not otherwise be able to come to the school.

Mary Thompson (née Pearse), 1947 (holding the camera in photo)

WHAT NEXT? PLEDGE FORM

How to include Queen Anne’s in your will

There are several different types of bequest which can be made when writing or amending a will.

A pecuniary legacy allows you to leave a specific sum of money. Over time the value of this bequest may decrease with inflation but it is possible to index-link the sum to preserve its current value.

A residuary legacy is the gift of the remainder of your estate (or a percentage) after all other gifts to friends and family have been distributed and all outgoings have been dealt with. A residuary legacy is generally of the greatest benefit to Queen Anne’s as its value increases in line with inflation.

A reversionary legacy involves leaving your assets to trustees so that family members or other beneficiaries can enjoy the income during their lifetime, with all or a portion of the capital going to Queen Anne’s after their death.

A conditional legacy provides for the eventuality that if none of your named dependants survive you, your estate will be left to other named beneficiaries and charities, e.g. Queen Anne’s.

A specific or non-money legacy allows you to make a bequest in the form of shares, property, valuables and works of art which may be either kept or sold by Queen Anne’s.

If you have already included or intend to include Queen Anne’s in your will, please let us know by completing and returning this form. Such a pledge does not commit you in any way. It is simply a statement of your present intentions.

Name

Address

Postcode

Telephone

Email

I have included/intend to include a legacy to Queen Anne’s in my will.

I would like to discuss my legacy in confidence with someone from Queen Anne’s.

I wish my legacy pledge to remain anonymous.