Support our work and leave a lasting legacy to public health 

Leave a gift in your will

Leaving a gift to FPH in your will is an ideal way of championing excellence in public health long into the future. No matter how big or small, your bequest will help the public health profession in so many ways – and what better way of showing the commitment you held to the specialty during your lifetime. Every legacy also allows us to offer more for our members and better support the future of public health.

Supporting specific areas of work

We really value how committed all of our members and supporters are to public health and while you may wish to leave an amount to be spent at FPH’s discretion, we also recognise that some of you will hold certain parts of public health close to your heart and would prefer to leave a gift in your will specifically to inspire others in that field.

That means that if you want to, your gift will be used to fund something that reflects your personal interests and truly leaves a legacy behind. Below are some examples of what different legacies you could leave behind when you go:*

1. Leaving a legacy for a central FPH learning fund – from short workshops to longer courses, this would be used to fund ongoing learning opportunities for FPH members – from £500
2. Funding research to aid the work we do across the organisation – this could be used for opinion polling or focus groups to help inform our policy campaigning - from £5,000
3. A lecture on a topic close to your heart – this could be funding for a one-off lecture – from £20,000 - £70,000 (depending on the scale of the event, how much marketing and promotion would be required, and what you’d want to achieve from the lecture)
4. A paid internship position at FPH – this would some with a passion in public health a unique opportunity to learn and work with each department of FPH for a year and give them the best start to their career in public health - £30,000 (to include external training opportunities)
5. A year-long contract for a fundraising officer – while there are many fundraising opportunities available to FPH, there isn’t one person dedicated to doing it full-time. But if there was, they could potentially raise a huge amount of money - £40,000 (to include external training opportunities)
6. Introducing new awards to help us continue to celebrate and champion excellence in public health – this would cost £5,000 per year but £50,000 would allow us to do it for a decade.Here are some examples of the sorts of awards we would love to introduce:

• Public health innovator of the year – aimed at individuals who are being collaborative and modern in their approach towards tackling public health issues
• Mentor of the year – aimed at individuals who’ve dedicated a large chunk of their time to advising and inspiring someone in the early part of their public health career
• Public health role model – aimed at individuals who live and breathe public health and inspire others
• Services to public health medicine – aimed at academics who have dedicated their career to making steps towards improving public health at population level
• Blue light award – aimed at a member of the emergency services who’s made a significant contribution to public health
• Public health team of the year – aimed at a team who have made a huge difference to either a local community or national population

An example of how a recent gift has helped FPH

Dr Clifford Shaw was a long-standing member of FPH who died in 2015. During his professional life, he was a medical officer of health (MoH) at Sheffield City Council before public health moved to the NHS, when he became one of three district community physicians in the city until he retired in 1984. Outside of work, he was a film buff and after retiring, spent a lot of his free time at the local cinema.

That’s why we used some of his legacy to combine two of his life’s passions and create a public health film fund. This was first used to fund the creation of a video in memory of past President Alwyn Smith who, during his career, played a major role in shaping public health policy. FPH Public Health Film Special Interest Group (SIG) has also been asked to submit a bid to use some of the fund to produce a public health-related film.

Aside from the film fund, we also named a room after him at FPH’s home in St Andrews Place in Regents Park, which will be a constant reminder of his work and inspiration to FPH staff and members for years to come.

How will we recognise your gift and support?

We would love to recognise your support in a way that reflects your wishes. While we’re keen to work with you on something that’s personal to your legacy, if you want us to, we would also like to do the following:

• You’ll feature in Public Health Today, our quarterly magazine, which will showcase people who’ve generously pledged to leave FPH a gift in their will, what they want it to be used for and why
• You will also be included in a special end of year feature of Public Health Today that looks back at everyone who has pledged to leave a gift to FPH in their will and why
• We will recognise your support by naming and thanking all of our legacy donors at our next conference
• Your generous support will be highlighted in the legacies section of our monthly e-bulletin which is read by all of our members

Types of legacies

From leaving a specific sum of money to an item, such as a historical artefact or document, there are different types of legacies depending on what you’d like to leave as a gift. To discuss your options, we recommend that you make your will in consultation with a solicitor or other professional advisor such as an accountant who is qualified to make wills.

Making a will is important and easy

As well as leaving a legacy behind and helping to support the future of public health, there are sound financial reasons for leaving a gift to charity as well. FPH is a registered charity which means that your gift will be exempt from tax – and depending on the percentage of your estate that you gift to charity when you die may also reduce the rate of inheritance tax that you pay on the rest.

To ensure your wishes are met though, we advise that you speak to a solicitor who can explain the benefits in full and how they could apply to your specific circumstances. If you want to go ahead, you can either choose to create a will or add specific wording to one that already exists. Please remember to use FPH’s unique charity number when writing in your gift: 263894.

Thank you!

If you are thinking of leaving a gift to FPH in your will or if you have already made provision, thank you so much – it’s hugely appreciated. We know that it’s a very personal gift and it will make a huge difference, leaving a lasting legacy for years to come. So that we can properly thank you and involve you in FPH, we’d really like to know about your gift. If you’re happy to tell us, please email Haidee O’Donnell: HaideeODonnell@fph.org.uk. You won’t be under any obligation towards FPH, and this won’t commit you to a particular course of action, or limit your freedom to change your will.

*footnote: all above monetary figures are inclusive of overheads, staff time and costs specific to each idea.