Leaving a gift in your will

Mrs Harrington

A gift for future crumble bakers

Apple crumble was Mrs Harrington's favourite recipe to bake. It's very fitting that her gift to Tintinhull in Somerset has ensured that apple trees were planted along the border of its Kitchen Garden.

As well as buying the saplings, her gift also went towards the planting materials and high-quality garden posts, meaning the framework will last a lifetime. Mrs Harrington's gift also contributed towards the engraved metal labels for the trees so that visitors can enjoy learning about the different varieties on their visit.

'These apples should be in place for the next hundred years at least, so it's a very special and worthwhile project,' says Keri Phillips, General Manager at Tintinhull.

Tintinhull will now be a special place to visit for Mrs Harrington's family. Her daughter, Caroline, visits the trees regularly to enjoy them as they grow. 'The trees are doing well and just starting to bud,' she says. 'We went to see them two weeks ago, just to check them over.'

Overbecks in Somerset also received some funding as part of Mrs Harrington's gift.

Gordon

A gift to Souter Lighthouse

Throughout his life, Gordon loved spending time near the sea; he was an eager bird and wildlife watcher and had a passion for geology. He left a gift in his will to Souter Lighthouse in Tyne and Wear, which will support the Whitburn Coastal Conservation Centre project, a space where visitors can learn more about the wildlife and heritage of the local area. This will encourage more people to connect with the coast like Gordon did.

Eric Wilton, Souter Lighthouse’s General Manager, arranged a tour for Gordon's family at the start of July 2022. They're pleased that his legacy will be used to support this project, and feel that he would’ve loved the centre.

A series of 30 projects at the centre will focus on heritage, wildlife and access improvements for this beloved area of coast.

A volunteer

A gift left to nature

A volunteer with a passion for nature – who has been volunteering for us since 2008 – has left a gift in his will to help care for Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. He wants to leave a long-lasting impact to help the work that's being done to protect nature.

He says: ‘Many years ago, we almost lost the incredibly rich and increasingly scarce habitat of Wicken Fen. Thanks to the work of the National Trust, a tiny part of it has been saved, and along with it the 9,000 species that live there.

'The Wicken Fen Vision is a 100-year vision but the work of preserving the fen will go on much longer than that. As my volunteering effort is much more finite, a legacy will ensure I continue to support the work at Wicken Fen long after I’m gone.'

His passion for nature will mean that wildlife such as plants, birds, dragonflies – and the Konik ponies – will be cared for at this vital wetland for years to come. Future visitors will be able to enjoy this important part of nature, all thanks to this gift left by the dedicated volunteer.  

'Everyone at Wicken Fen puts in an amazing effort to the success of the reserve. There’s a lot that needs doing if it is to flourish and it’s difficult to raise funds for the work. I want to help in any way I can and hopefully my modest legacy will do just that.'

Audrey

A gift to Kingston Lacy

Born in 1926, Audrey’s early life was marked by WWII. Volunteering for the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) the hopes, fears and hardships endured during that time left a lasting impression on her. In her daughter’s words: ‘She simply loved Britain’.

After marrying and travelling for many years with her husband in the British Army, she settled in Dorset and it was then that Audrey first visited Kingston Lacy.

Audrey 'adored’ Kingston Lacy. She joined the National Trust, and with her family visited regularly. As her daughter Cherry remembers:

'I have so many happy memories of wandering around the house and estate with her, seeing the snowdrops in February together and looking in the shop. Not to mention having tea and cake!'

Audrey's love of Kingston Lacy’s house, history and it’s ‘sweeping grounds with the gorgeous trees’ led her to leave a gift in her will so a tree could be planted in her memory.  Her son and daughter chose this to be an oak tree ‘for everything that it symbolises – heritage, strength and endurance’, and because of its connection to the National Trust.

Ann-Marie

A legacy in memory of my parents

Growing up in rural Buckinghamshire, Ann-Marie Wilson fondly remembers how her family always celebrated birthdays, visits from relatives and bank holidays at their nearby National Trust places of Hughenden Manor, Cliveden, Claydon and Stowe.

Then, when Ann-Marie was 22, her father sadly died from cancer. Looking for a way to remember him by she asked her mum to buy her a National Trust life membership.

‘Every time I use my card,’ she says, ‘I remember my dad Harry and his love of the National Trust. Now when we have a cream tea at a historical property, we call it a Harry day.’

After her mum also died of cancer a few years later, leaving a gift in her will to the National Trust in memory of her parents ‘seemed the most obvious decision to make’.

Ann-Marie wants to encourage others to make an inheritance decision like hers that ‘gives a long-term legacy to the future of Britain’. She’s also decided to leave a gift in her will for her loved ones to buy life memberships with.

Patricia

My legacy to White Park Bay 

White Park Bay on the North Antrim coast in Northern Ireland has long been a favourite place for Patricia Moorhead. By leaving a gift to the National Trust in her will, she hopes more people will feel the same sense of freedom and inspiration that she experiences when she visits. 

'Leaving a gift to the National Trust is the perfect way to protect spectacular coasts, majestic mountains, inspirational gardens and historic buildings.'

In particular, she wants the traditions and historic buildings of her native Northern Ireland to be remembered and celebrated. ‘Land is our most cherished commodity and often the National Trust has been successful in protecting it from insensitive development,’ she says.

‘The traditional crafts such as thatching, dry-stone walling, wattle hedging and scything are also being given the opportunity to return, as the National Trust makes courses and day sessions available to help people learn these skills.’