Leaving a legacy: the greatest donation you can make

Please consider making a gift to Friends of Vellore UK in your will. Did you know that you may qualify to pay Inheritance Tax at a reduced rate of 36% if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity?

Friends of Vellore UK have teamed up with Bequeathed who offer a free will-writing service, which you can access online at a convenient time for you, from the comfort of your own home. Whether you just need to write a simple will, or you have some questions that you need answers to, Bequeathed will connect you with a trusted solicitor to help address any issues.

Simply click on the link below to to get started. A legal professional will advise you on your draft will in a 30-minute appointment, in person or over the phone. And once it’s completed they’ll store your will securely at no cost.

We have codicil forms if you would like to leave a legacy but have an existing will. The form is available to download here: Codicil Form, or you can contact the office to post you a copy. You can specify either a single sum, which can be as little as £1, or you can bequeath a proportion of your estate, which can be anything from 1% upwards. Please do not hesitate to get professional guidance should you need it.

You may choose to leave your gift to the general fund so that it is used wherever it is most needed, or you might want to specify that the gift goes to a particular project or area of our work. For example, you might want to support the Low Cost Effective Care Unit, Palliative Care or our projects at CMC’s associated mission hospitals. You can read more about the different projects here.

If you have any questions about leaving a legacy, please get in touch.

The impact of a legacy

Friends of Vellore have seen some very generous legacies in recent years. We have also been grateful for smaller legacies which enable our ongoing projects.

In 2019 Dr Agnes Leslie left a sum of £50,000 in her will to CMC Vellore via Friends of Vellore UK. £40,000 was for CMC’s Rehabilitation Department which went towards the building of a hostel for female students, and also paid for equipment and wheelchairs. £10,000 was given for Palliative Care which enabled a new palliative care service at CMC’s Chittoor campus.

In 2021 we received an incredible £1,000,000 from Selwyn and Elizabeth Baker’s estate with two further smaller payments anticipated in 2022. Dr Selwyn Baker was a physician in CMC’s Department of Medicine in the early 60’s. He left Vellore, moved to Canada and then settled in the UK. Dr Baker died in November 2019 and his wife Elizabeth on 4 April 2020. Their combined estates were wonderfully left to Friends of Vellore UK with the wish that they be used for the endowment of a fund for the treatment of indigent patients at Christian Medical College Vellore.

The capital has been invested in our investment portfolio with M&G Charifund and the income will be sent to CMC each year for CMC’s various charitable funds which enable treatments for patients who have no means to pay for their care. This enduring legacy will enable many patients to have vital and often life-saving treatment which otherwise they would not be able to afford.