Making a will… making a difference

The QMU legacy

At first there weren’t any classrooms. Christian Guthrie Wright and her fellow lecturers at the Edinburgh School of Cookery packed up pots, pans and gas burners and hit the road from Shetland to the Channel Islands. Their mission was simple: to take their craft to thousands and bring nutrition to the masses, thereby improving the health of the nation. Their scientific understanding and down-to-earth instruction had enormous influence. Within a generation, infant mortality in Scotland was reduced by 50%.

It was very much in Miss Guthrie Wright’s character that she would not leave the future to chance. She ensured that this work would continue after her death by making a bequest to support the endeavours of the students and staff that followed her.

From those early days, through the Atholl Crescent years, to the present day, Queen Margaret University has continued the tradition of taking practical knowledge into the community. Today, across an ever increasing range of subjects, QMU’s graduates and research have an immediate, practical and lasting impact on the quality of people’s lives.

You can help carry that inheritance into the future by leaving a legacy to QMU in your will.

Making a will is extremely important - as any solicitor will tell you - without an up-to-date will, you cannot guarantee that your estate will be divided up according to your wishes.

Your contribution to the future

Every legacy gifted to QMU, regardless of the amount, is immensely valuable. Whether alone or along with other gifts from graduates and friends, it could, for example:

• provide a scholarship to enable a student to pursue a course of study at QMU
  
• provide a grant to enable a student to undertake an exceptional project or placement
  
• be the catalyst to pioneering, practical research
  
• help create the very best facilities at our new campus

A legacy can be used in a particular way: for a specific subject area or in memory of a loved one. If you have a particular faculty you wish to benefit, an area of research close to your heart or would like to help ensure QMU’s continued success for future generations, then you can make a difference by leaving a gift in your will.

In addition, it is important to note that bequests made to charity offer an opportunity to reduce the inheritance tax liability on your estate – as an educational institution, the University is an exempt charity.

If you would like more information on leaving a bequest to QMU, please contact Ann Hubbard in the Development & Alumni Office on 0131 474 0000.

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