InvestIng In the futureA guide to leaving a gift in your will

A message from the Principal

It’s been one hundred and twenty-five years since Mansfield College was founded on account of the generosity and foresight of George Mansfield and his sister Sarah Glover. Much has changed in the years since but one thing remains constant: Mansfield’s continued success owes to its alumni and friends’ shared belief that an Oxford education must not be the privilege of the wealthy, but should be the preserve of the most able. Our guiding principle continues to be that excellence should be recognised regardless of where it is found, even when it comes from the most unusual of places.

Over the years our Benefactors have played a tremendous role in helping Mansfield fulfil its unique mission; they have funded the bursaries, endowed the subject Fellowships and looked after the College buildings that have sparked the imaginations and fired the ambitions of all of our students. We cannot count ourselves amongst the wealthy Oxford colleges. However, we will always be rich in spirit and filled with a strong sense of purpose and direction.

I would ask that you take a moment and reflect on what Mansfield has meant to you, both personally and professionally. Leaving a gift to the College in your Will can help us to take the next important steps towards ensuring that we are better able to provide for each of our students. It also sends a very personal and powerful statement that Mansfield matters.

I am proud of the journey our College has taken over the years, and with your help, I am confident that an even brighter future awaits us.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

From the principal

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Legacy gifts might also reflect your own interests and priorities, such as:

FOR STUDENTSEnsuring that Mansfield can continue its pioneering efforts to increase student access to those who come from under-represented areas and backgrounds

FOR COLLEGESecuring a particular aspect of the College environment, such as the Chapel or Library, by looking after its architectural heritage or renovation

FOR FELLOWSEndowing a Fellowship in a specific subject, enabling Mansfield to continue providing a world-class, tutorial-based education to its students

FOR CULTUREPromoting culture, travel and sport through the support of a particular Mansfield club or society

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What will your Mansfield legacy be?

There are many ways in which a gift in your Will can help Mansfield College and its members.

Unrestricted legacies are particularly welcomed as they will be used to build up Mansfield’s endowment, helping us to reduce the huge wealth gap between Mansfield and even the middle-income colleges.

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Mansfield has long struggled to keep pace in a very unequal Oxford, but it has achieved an amazing amount with minimal resources, and has exciting plans. It needs and deserves all the help that we can give it. Legacies are a key way to secure the future of the College and to ensure that Mansfield students don’t lose out because they are at a ‘poor college’.

Not surprisingly, I have decided to help Geography at Mansfield and I would encourage everyone to support whatever aspect of College matters most to them. If we all leave Mansfield something, large or small, the long-term effect will be transformational!

Dr Tony Lemon

Tutorial Fellow in Geography, 1969-2010

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My time at Mansfield has had a positive and enduring impact on my life. I cannot imagine being made to feel more welcome and valued anywhere else. I wholeheartedly agree with Principal Helena Kennedy when she says that the College identifies a student’s potential and develops it. I feel I am still in debt to Mansfield for the way it has shaped my life, and I have therefore decided to leave the College a gift in my Will. Mansfield is at a financial disadvantage when compared with many of the other colleges, so gifts of this kind are an invaluable source of provision for future generations of students. A legacy is easy to arrange and will provide a lasting benefit to the college.

Catherine Thomas

Jurisprudence, 2001

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There are many ways you can leave a gift to Mansfield in your Will

A Residuary LegacyThis is the gift of all or part of the net value of your estate, after all liabilities, taxes, legacies and administrative expenses have been met. This gift is particularly simple to make as you do not need to worry about the sum or effects of inflation when writing your Will.

A Specific or Non-Monetary LegacyIf you wish, personal possessions, such as property, jewellery, works of art or stocks and shares can all be bequeathed in your Will.

A Pecuniary LegacyThis simple form of legacy allows you to give a specific sum of money to Mansfield. The drawback to this type of legacy, however, is that it does not take into account the effects of inflation (as opposed to a residuary legacy).

A Conditional LegacyThis provides for the eventuality that, if any one of your named beneficiaries does not survive you, their part of your estate will be left to the College.

A Reversionary LegacyThis gift has the advantage of providing for your family first and then benefiting Mansfield. It involves leaving your assets to Trustees so that the beneficiaries can enjoy the benefits during their lifetime with the whole or a portion passing to the College on their death.

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Leaving a gift in your Will to Mansfield

Whether you are writing your Will for the first time or amending it, including a bequest to Mansfield is simple.

If you are writing your Will for the first time an appropriate form of words to include would be as follows:

Leaving a gift in your existing Will by codicil

If you have already made a Will and would like to include Mansfield, you can do so by filling out the enclosed Codicil form at the back of this brochure.

I give ______________________ to the Principal and Fellows of Mansfield College, Oxford to be used for its general purposes and I declare that the receipt of the Bursar or other proper Officer for the time being of the said College shall be a full and sufficient discharge to my Executors. In all other respects I can confirm my Will and any other codicils to it.

Your will

As an undergraduate I soon realized how lucky I was to be at Mansfield. Its unique and supportive atmosphere distinguished it from other colleges and over the years it has almost become a second family to me. It was only natural to want to help and give others the opportunity to follow in my own footsteps, and I am happy to have helped play a part in Mansfield’s continuing story.

Bob Skelly

English, 1965

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