The legacy sector is a wonderfully collaborative place and I’m looking forward to being able to support others through my own personal development and learning, thanks to this special opportunity. This award will make a huge difference to my work at Essex Wildlife Trust – a local charity, with a small fundraising team. The training will allow me to confidently maximise our legacy income, whilst also ensuring that I can provide the highest level of care to our pledgers and the executors and families of our legators.

This bursary will make a real difference — not only in my personal professional development but also in supporting the vital work we do at The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice. Legacy giving is an increasingly important source of income for our hospice, helping us to provide specialist palliative care and support to patients and families when they need it most. The training package will allow me to deepen my knowledge and confidence in legacy administration, ensuring we are stewarding these incredibly generous gifts with the care, accuracy, and gratitude they deserve.

I was very impressed by this year’s candidates. Not only are they dedicated to their team and charity; they’re also committed to providing the best possible service to lay executors, service users and the many different parties legacy officers have to work with. Just reading the applications made me feel proud to be a legacy fundraiser. Beth Brook, Head of Legacy and In-Memory Fundraising at ActionAid UK

This was a really tough job – so many of the entries were really deserving of the bursary award. The two winners are both fairly new to the sector but they demonstrated a genuine desire to learn, share their knowledge and drive best practice at their respective charities. Matthew Lagden, CEO of ILM and fellow judge