One of the easiest ways in which you might like to think about helping Northwood House Charitable Trust as a community facing charity is by making a one-off donation or leaving a legacy in your will to us.

If you hold Northwood House and the surrounding green spaces of Northwood Park dear to your heart, then your generosity will help make sure that the Cowes and the wider Island community can enjoy the benefits of this historic estate for many generations to come, protected and enhanced by the work of the Trust.

Our charity is extremely grateful for all the donations we receive which go towards helping to preserve and enhance Northwood House and the park for the benefit of the community. Several recent donations by generous local people have helped pay for new restoration and project work, helping us accelerate progress to give the house and park a long term and sustainable future.  This helps us become more quickly unshackled form the heavy burden of historic neglect and decay that we inherited in 2010.

Make a donation today and see the benefit

If you make a donation today, we can place funds into planned projects and community enhancements that you can see delivered in the short term. Perhaps you have a particular area that you want to support or are just happy for the Charity’s Board of Trustees and senior executives to place funding where its most needed. Our recent building condition survey has highlighted a list of prioritised work that we need to complete in the next 5 to 10 years. This makes it relatively quick and easy for us to find a relevant project to make an immediate and long lasting impact with your donation, no matter how small or large.

Leave us a legacy in your will

Leaving us a legacy in your will is fantastic way to give longer term support to the work of Northwood House Charitable Trust.

Your will states what will happen to your money, property and possessions after you die. If you do not have a will then your estate can be divided up in a way which may go against your wishes or may not be what you expect. For example, if you die without leaving a will, which is known as being intestate, then if you are married with children your spouse may have to share your estate with your children. This could mean your spouse having to sell the family home and could cause financial difficulties. If you are unmarried with a partner, your partner will not normally be entitled to anything, unless you happen to have jointly owned assets (there is no such thing as a common law spouse, which is frequently misunderstood) and your assets could go to other family members. In addition, you will not be able to list any gifts which you may have wanted to make or set out your preferred funeral arrangements.

If you leave a will you can consider making gifts to a charity, including to Northwood House Charitable Trust. The value of your gifts to charity will be deducted from your estate before Inheritance Tax is calculated, so this could reduce the amount of tax paid. In addition, if you give more than 10% of your estate to charity the rate of Inheritance Tax is reduced from 40% to 36%. Your solicitor will be able to discuss how this may affect your estate and beneficiaries. We strongly recommend that you use a solicitor or other property qualified will writer to make sure that your will is correctly drafted and signed.

If you have already made a will you do not need to completely re-write it to include a gift to charity, you can make changes by way of a short document known as a codicil. Again we recommend using a solicitor or will writer to deal with this for you.

In your will you can donate:

• a fixed sum of money, which is a known as a pecuniary gift (this can also be index linked)
• a particular item, for example a painting or a property
• a share of what is left in your estate after other gifts, taxes and expenses have been paid, which is known as a residuary legacy

If you would like to leave a gift in your will to Northwood House, you will need to have the following details:

Northwood House Charitable Trust Company Limited

Registered address:
Northwood House
Ward Avenue
Cowes, Isle of Wight
PO31 8AZ

Registered charity number: 1150641 (England and Wales)

How do I write my gift to the charity in my will?

An example of wording you could use in your will for a fixed sum is as follows:

I give £[           ] ([           ] pounds) to Northwood House Charitable Trust Company Limited (registered charity number 1150641) of Northwood House, Ward Avenue, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 8AZ absolutely

If my executors obtain a receipt for a payment made under this will from the treasurer, or other apparently appropriate officer, of a charity to which the payment is made, they have no further duties relating to the payment

Otherwise an example of wording for a percentage of your residuary estate is as follows:

I give [          ] % ([           ] per cent) of my residuary estate to Northwood House Charitable Trust Company Limited (registered charity number 1150641) of Northwood House, Ward Avenue, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 8AZ absolutely

If my executors obtain a receipt for a payment made under this will from the treasurer, or other apparently appropriate officer, of a charity to which the payment is made, they have no further duties relating to the payment

Want to get in touch?

If you want to talk to us about making a donation or leaving us a legacy in your will, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. You can do this easily by email or phone to make a convenient meeting time here at Northwood House.

Please contact Darren Cool, Chief Operating Officer, Northwood House Charitable Trust Company Ltd

Telephone 01983 293642

Email: dj.cool@northwoodhouse.org