As part of our campaign for Remember A Charity Week, we are looking into ten reasons why you might want to leave us a gift in your Will.

Gifts left to charity in Wills are a crucial source of our income and help fund key services and Hippodrome Projects, including future artistic commissions, work in schools and communities and preserving our historic auditorium and developing the theatre’s facilities for future generations. Here we have three case studies from two of our legacy pledgers and our Wills and Legal Services partner.

 

Clare Mac, Paralegal at Wills & Legal Services

At Wills & Legal we passionately believe that making a Will is one of the best ways of protecting your families’ future…..and it’s not as expensive as you think!

Wills & Legal are proud to support Birmingham Hippodrome through our ‘Free Wills Initiative’ – and you can have a basic Will drawn up for free although a donation of £50 or more to Birmingham Hippodrome is suggested, supporting the theatre’s charitable work.  We can visit you in your own home or you can book onto one of our popular ‘surgery days’ at the theatre.

Making a Will not only enables you to protect those you love but also gives you the chance to consider any charitable causes you may also wish to support as part of your wishes.  This is a fantastic and tax efficient way of giving back to the things that have mattered during your lifetime – like your favourite theatre.

As a specialist paralegal, I really believe making a Will is one of the best things you can do to ensure your future is protected – and Wills & Legal can help you every step of the way.

Cheryl Robinson, Legacy Pledger 

A lot of people still do not realise that The Hippodrome is a charity, largely funded by ticket sales and donations. Making a Will is something we should all do and I personally feel that it is important to leave legacies to charities which are important to me, The Hippodrome being one of them.

As a family, we have been visiting The Hippodrome for many years now and theatre continues to be an enjoyable part of our lives. Both my mother and I have been visiting since we were very young and it is always an exciting and uplifting experience, right from booking the tickets to attending the performance itself.

I believe it is important for the arts to be available to everyone. The theatre is not a scary place at all and it is great to see The Hippodrome opening its doors to all, via its amazing Hippodrome Projects which help people have a memorable experience, especially those who have not had the chance to do so before. It is also good to see the work the theatre is doing with local schools through the Hippodrome Education Network (HEN) and introducing the arts to future generations, in the hope that it becomes a part of their lives.

Since deciding to leave a legacy in my Will, my relationship with the Hippodrome has grown and it has been lovely meeting the fundraising team. I have attended an Artistic Circle Lunch where I met like-minded people who are equally as passionate about the Hippodrome and the arts.  As a family, we have also become a “Family Friend” and enjoy great benefits. I look forward to my continuing relationship with The Hippodrome over the coming years and wholeheartedly support their work for promoting arts in the city.

Paul Callas, Legacy Pledger 

We put the Hippodrome in our Will because we feel that it’s such an important part of our lives and our personal story. I saw my first show outside the West End at the Hippodrome just after it re-opened and I realised that I didn’t have to work in London to work for a world-class arts organisation. So I left the USA with the idea that I could work at the Hippodrome.

I started as a volunteer at first and then became a Casual Customer Service Assistant. I left that role and worked at a few other arts organisations before I came back to the Hippodrome as a Manager of a Department. I left after 5 years to start a family with my husband. I miss it but I am still a part of it.

It’s the place we took my mother to so she could see her first pantomime and one of the last shows before she passed away. It’s the first place we took our son too so he could experience live theatre for the first time and he loved it.

When I eventually pass away I would want to feel that I have made a contribution to the theatre that makes it possible for someone else to enjoy it as much as we have!!

Find out more about leaving a gift in your Will with Birmingham Hippodrome on our website here.