WHY I GIVE BRIAN AND CHRISTINE DAGLISH

WHY I GIVE BY TWO EXILED GEORDIES

BY BRIAN AND CHRISTINE DAGLISH FELLOWS OF THE RGS

you will see that you could help in giving some boy or girl an enjoyable few years and a good kick-start into a worthwhile job in their future, which looks like being more difficult than ours were many years ago. These RGS bursary boys and girls add immeasurable balance to the life of the school. Donating to the Bursary Campaign has given two exiled Geordies immense pleasure and will continue to do so for years to come.

I am also passionate about giving tax effectively. Each donation received by the school can be boosted via Gift Aid, giving RGS additional funds at no extra cost to the donor. Here is an example of how the Gift Aid arrangement can work for RGS:

Many professionals and retirees are finding they have little free time to pursue their philanthropic interests but have a strong desire to help others. Many don’t know what the possibilities are, they have initial ideas, but don’t know what project or causes really mean something to them. They question the integrity of the charity, they want to make sure they can monitor the impact of their donation.

The notion of philanthropy has been around for generations, it is a tradition and ideology that has evolved becoming heavily embedded into the business structures of education institutions globally.

My wife and I realised that our philanthropic interests lay with education, believing that it has the ability to enhance social mobility opportunities for children. Sadly, the North East has seen the education standards somewhat slip in recent decades. We are avid readers of the news and it is alarming to say the least, when we read the annual school rankings, where only a small number of northern state schools feature. This became our motivation for giving and we wanted to make an impact in our home region, we get great pleasure from donating annually to the RGS Bursary Campaign knowing that it helps in giving an excellent, enjoyable education to some bright, hardworking children whose parents couldn't possibly afford the school's fees.

Once we settled on the cause we made sure that we give during our lifetime, we don’t want to let the money accumulate for the dubious pleasure of donating it on our eventual death. I get a real pleasure of giving now as we can see the impact of our gifts simply by looking at the school’s website and annual review;

Each donation received by the school can be boosted via Gift Aid, giving RGS additional funds at no extra cost to the donor.”

A donation of £56 annually to the Bursary Campaign can have a greater reach when boosted with Gift Aid, HMRC will add £14 making the total value to RGS £70. This single gift would provide a bursary to a Junior School student for one day of their time at RGS.

If you are “lucky” enough to have your top slice of a safe annual income taxed at 40% and give a gross donation of £11,599 RGS will be able to reclaim a further £2,900 in Gift Aid, making your total gift £14,499 for the Bursary Campaign – enough to sponsor a bursary student for a whole year. As a bonus, you can reclaim tax (through your self- assessment) of £2,320. So at a net cost to you is £9,279. We firmly believe in the transformational life chances we give to boys and girls from Newcastle. Should you wish to learn more about supporting RGS with a donation then please contact us at development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk.