The Church of England has launched its new Church Legacy website  which offers quick and easy access to essential information for individuals considering leaving a gift in their Will to their local church.

Legacies are a hugely valuable source of income to our parish churches and contributed £44.8million to parish income in 2011 – that’s almost £3,000 per parish church!

The new Church Legacy website provides information for individuals making their wills, solicitors acting on behalf of their clients, churches looking to encourage legacy giving in their parish and Christians wishing to find out more.

“Legacies are life driven; they’re only activated by death.  When remembering gifts generously left, we give thanks and recall the story of the individual’s life and commitment to their church.”                                                                                           Eleanor Gill, Legacy and Funding Officer, Archbishop’s Council

 

Legacies in the Diocese of Truro

In 2012, legacies contributed £428,976 to our parish churches in Cornwall enabling parishes to carry out a range of work securing access and use of our churches for years to come.

• St Petroc’s, Bodmin, received three legacies in 2012 totalling nearly £9,000. These were put towards its new lighting scheme, and made a significant contribution to the overall cost. The scheme is now complete and will be a memorial for years to come to those who contributed.

“Legacies such as these provide an important step boost to our funding, enabling us to achieve goals which otherwise may seem far off or unachievable. We were grateful that the legacies were worded to enable the Rector and PCC to decide on the best use of the money for the church at the time the legacy became available.”                                                                        Derek Lowe, Treasurer

• A legacy of £8,047 received by St Eval Church specifically for maintenance was wisely invested. The parish now draws the interest and some of the capital each year to pay for the mowing of the churchyard. As such, it notes in its parish report: “Well-maintained grounds add to the caring sense of welcome.”

• St Mawnan parish, on receipt of a faculty, is about to embark on a new project to provide a parish office and meeting room at St Michael’s. It received a legacy specifically for this purpose and is excited about the prospects this brings.

If you would like to find out more about how a gift in your Will could make a difference, visit  www.churchlegacy.org.uk  or contact Eleanor Gill on 0207 898 1564 or eleanor.gill@churchofengland.org

LINK to our Legacies & Donations page