Making a difference
When you make your Will, in addition to making provision for your beneficiaries, you also have the opportunity to leave what is known as a legacy gift from your estate to an individual charity such as ourselves here at Eden Churches. Most people are unsure about how best to add the church to their Wills or struggle to find the right moment to do so. This is very understandable – so this webpage is here to help you think this through and take action on your decisions.

The top UK charities receive over half of their total income from legacies. In comparison, the Church of England relies mostly on its regular annual income. A legacy could make a real and significant difference to the presence of the church in this community. In Eden Churches, we welcome all gifts in Wills, however large or small, and we promise to use your gift to make a difference in our parish. 

Making a will can be a positive experience for you and your family. It can give you peace of mind, knowing your wishes have been written down, and that you are caring for the future financial needs of those close to you. In addition, the administrative burden on death, at what is a particularly difficult time for family, will be considerably lessened.

Eden Churches Legacy Policy
 
Our PCC Legacy Policy is to use gifts to help fund the ministry of the church through staff, buildings, equipment or projects. Since needs change over the years, we encourage you to leave a gift in your will for the general purposes of the parish rather than for a restricted purpose. We will discuss possible uses of your gift with your executors, bearing in mind the church’s priorities at the time.
 
You can be confident that your gift will be used to make a real difference to our future mission and ministry. We acknowledge gifts in whatever way the donor and/or her/his executors feel most appropriate to. Equally, we can make sure that gifts remain anonymous if the donor prefers.

If you would like to talk to someone in confidence about this, please contact our treasurer Jim Johnson, on 01228 594662. We pray that as you plan how to distribute your estate, you will feel encouraged to remember your church family and consider how a gift in your will could help your church meet the needs of future generations making a lasting difference to the mission of the church in this community.
 
Suggested wording for your will:
“I give _____% of my residuary estate  OR I give the sum of £_____ (pounds only) free of all taxes to the Parochial Church Council of -St Pauls Holme Eden or Holy Trinity Wetheral -in the Diocese of Carlisle for its general purposes, and I declare that the receipt of an officer of the Parochial  Church Council shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors and trustees.”
This can be arranged through your solicitor or on a codicil form which can be found on the churchlegacy.org.uk website.
The bank account titles are 'The TTSs of Holme Eden PCC' and 'Wetheral Parochial Church Council'.
  
Helpful Links

The Church of England has teamed up with Farewill, a Will making company who can help you complete a will free, online or on the telephone

How to make a will - Farewill

Church Legacy - The Church of England

Church Legacy Line 08445 870875

Some initial steps to making a Will 
 

• If you have children under 18, you will need to appoint a guardian for them in your will. If you don’t, a court may decide who should look after them if you die before they are 18. Please make sure that you ask the person if he/she is willing to be your child/children’s guardian first.
• Make a list of the family, friends and charities you would like to benefit from your will and decide what you would like to give each one.  It can be expressed in specific amounts or as a percentage of your assets.
• You will need to work out the current value of your estate, which is the term covering all the assets you leave behind on your death.
• You will need to decide who you are going to use for your professional advice and the actual drafting of you will.
• Choose your executors.  It’s the role of executors to ensure that what you want to happen in your will on your death does actually happen. It is usual to name two executors but you can name up to four.

Here are a few quotes to inspire you about the mark you are leaving on the world at this moment and enabling other to leave their mark in the future.

There is a saying about sitting in the shade and shelter of a tree because someone else had the resources and foresight to plant it.
Legacy is about planting seeds in a garden that you will never see growing.

If you’re going to live,
leave a legacy.  
Make a mark on the world
that can’t be erased.
Maya Angelou

The greatest legacy
one can pass on to one's children
and grandchildren
is not money
or other material things
accumulated in one's life,
but rather a legacy
of character and faith.
Billy Graham
 
What you leave behind
is not what is engraved
in stone monuments,
but what is woven
into the lives of others.
Pericles

‘Each of you should give
what you have decided
in your heart to give,
not reluctantly
or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9v7
St Paul