The winners of the 2023 Legacy Futures Bursary Awards have been unveiled, celebrating new and emerging talent in the legacy and in memory field.
We received a record number of applications this year, and are very grateful to our independent panel of judges who narrowed these down to six worthy winners.
International Award Winner:
Supporting organisations outside the UK who want to grow through legacy giving. The winner of this year’s International Bursary is Will Power, the Canadian legacy giving campaign.
The judges of the International Award – Tracey King (Deakin University) and Elly Lont (LegacyGiving.eu) – felt this application showed a huge amount of potential impact, given their reach across charities in Canada. They were impressed with the level of research and innovation already happening in the campaign, in particular how they are reaching out across generations and encouraging a wider group of people to consider leaving a gift to a Canadian charity in their will.
Laurie Fox, Will Power
“I was thrilled to find out Will Power had won Legacy Future’s international bursary! We’re at a stage in this national campaign where it’s time to take things to the next level, and inspire even more charitable gifts in Wills in Canada. Winning a mentorship from some of the world’s leaders in legacy thinking could not have been better timing.”
Future Leader Bursary Winners:
Investing in those who are new to a legacy or in-memory giving role, the winners of this year’s Future Leader category are Kim Greed, Laura Wilkinson and Catherine House.
The judges – Abbie Barton at Marie Curie (a 2022 winner) and Lucinda Frostick, Director at Remember A Charity – felt that each of these future leaders demonstrated exceptional fundraising abilities and strategic thinking, and that they would benefit and grow from the 6-month mentorship offered to award winners.
Kim Greed, Blind Veterans UK
“The mentoring programme with the Legacy Futures team is a fantastic opportunity and I’m excited to learn from their experience and expertise. In particular I look forward to developing my knowledge and skills so that I can continue to grow the legacy programme at Blind Veterans UK and advocate for legacy giving.”
Laura Wilkinson, Blood Cancer UK
“I entered for this award because of the support it offers to both my own personal development and for the organisation I work for. The 6-month mentoring programme will allow me to work with other legacy professionals in the sector and create a broader understanding of legacies which will help me to create an even better legacy marketing programme at Blood Cancer UK, which I’m really excited about.”
Catherine House, The Queen’s College, Oxford University
“Having been in my role as a Legacy Giving Officer for a short time, I’m aware just how much there is to learn about legacy giving. I applied for the award because the offer of a mentoring pathway to support my development as a legacy professional is such a unique learning opportunity. Through the coming months, I’m looking forward to using this experience with Legacy Futures to help me grow and enhance the educational legacy programme at The Queen’s College, Oxford. Thank you to Legacy Futures!”
Crispin Ellison Bursary Winners:
The Crispin Ellison Bursary aims to further professional development in legacy administration. Winners of this year’s Bursary are Arian Thornton and Laura Simpson-Toyn.
Each will receive receive training from the Institute of Legacy Management (ILM) to the value of £1,000.
The judges – Emma Newell at Claire House Children’s Hospice (a 2022 winner) and Matthew Lagden, Director at the ILM – felt that each of these future leaders demonstrated a breadth of skills, talent and passion that will serve them well as the develop their careers as legacy professionals.
Arian Thornton, Marie Curie
“This is such a big achievement for me. Having only been in the world of charity legacy administration for a few months, I feel it’s so important to develop my knowledge and learn as much as I can about legacy administration. I hope to now start working towards the CiCLA qualification this year, and I’m really looking forward to getting started.”
Laura Simpson-Toyn, Bransby Horses
“Bransby Horses relies solely on support from the general public to help us continue our rescue, rehabilitation, welfare and influencing equine welfare work and the majority of our income comes from the legacies created by our kind supporters. I hope that gaining this qualification and receiving mentoring will broaden my knowledge base enabling me to carry out my role as an Assistant Legacy Officer for the charity to the best of my ability and to progress my career in the world of legacies.”
We created the Legacy Futures Awards as part of our mission to do all we can to support the sector and its fundraisers.
We want to thank every person and organisation that took the time to enter and share their great work with us and of course, our panel of judges for their commitment to the Awards.
Huge congratulations to the winners! We’re excited to see what comes next in their gifts in wills and in memory fundraising.
If you have ideas for other ways you think we could help you, we’re always keen to hear from you.