A Gift to the Future

From the early days of the Society, bequests from Fellows have played a vital role in the development and growth of the Society and its activities. Many core activities such as keynote lectures, awards and grants would not exist without this form of long-term support.

How your legacy will be used

By making a bequest directly to the RSS your support can be channelled to any area of the organisation's work you wish. Your legacy can strengthen the Society's education and outreach work for instance, or allow us to provide support for statisticians in developing countries.

Here are two examples of recent significant bequests to the Society.

John Harold West bequest

John Harold West, was a Chartered Statistician who held statistical and other posts in southern Zimbabwe. He died in 1998 and left the residue of his estate to the Society. His bequest has been used to establish the West medal that is awarded to Fellows for outstanding achievements in, contributions to or influences on the development and use of statistics in the fields of official or social statistics and also the J H West bursary, which provides travel bursaries Fellows in Economically Developing Areas who are presenting papers or posters to the annual conference.

Sir Harry Campion bequest

A substantial bequest was left to the Society in 1996 by former RSS president Sir Harry Campion. Sir Harry was also the first director of the Central Statistical Office during the Second World War and later the first director of the United Nations Statistical Office.

So far these funds have enabled both the Campion Fellowship, which is awarded to Fellows of the Society to promote a specific project that would make a significant contribution to the development, use or exposition of statistics on the economic or social well-being of the population, and the RSS Historical Fund, which supports the conservation and restoration of the Society archives and book collection, to be established.

Sir Harry is also remembered in the annual Campion (President's Invited) Lecture at the Society conference. The Campion Fund is also supporting a number of activities and events taking place to celebrate the Society's 175th anniversary in 2009.

Leaving a legacy is simple

It is very simple to include a legacy to the Society in your Will and gifts can be made as a specified sum of money, a proportion of your residuary estate or one or more specific items of your property. Making a bequest to a charity such as the RSS can be an effective way of reducing your inheritance tax. If you have already made your Will and would like to include the RSS,you can simply add a codicil making the addition or change. A codicil is a separate legal document amending your Will and can be made with the advice of your solicitor.

The next step

We understand that planning for the future is never easy, but it would help us enormously if you were able to indicate whether you have thought of the RSS in your Will.

If you are considering a bequest to the RSS and would like to let us know of your kind intention or would simply like more information, please download the bequest form, complete and return it to us.

We are available to discuss possible areas for your support. Any information you give us now and all conversations will be treated in confidence and does not involve you in any binding agreement. We can also provide you with the appropriate form of words for use in your Will. Please do not hesitate to contact either Nicola Emmerson or Paul Gentry.