Anna’s first visit to the Merchant Sinfonia here in Glasgow was before Christmas. She pitched up with her oboe and played with our oboe section...
Our CEO Barbara Eifler reminds us what legacies have done for Making Music, and what significant impact they can have.
Talking about wills can be hard. We don’t like being confronted with our mortality and the combination with finances makes it doubly unpalatable to many. But forward planning can have many benefits, not least for your favourite charities.
Many Making Music member groups receive legacies from their members and supporters, meaning they can carry on bringing joy long after they have gone. In the same way, Making Music (and by extension its members) have benefitted in the past from generous legacies, some for a very specific purpose, others without restrictions.
Pauline Thompson was a passionate choral singer in a member group who came to see us before writing her will to ask how her future legacy could best help us. She died of cancer the following year and left Making Music an unrestricted legacy. We used this to engage an additional member of staff to research the barriers for young people in taking part in adult music groups, and to address some of those challenges. Her family remained in touch with us and engaged throughout the work.
Alan and Ethel Kirby, also choral singers, asked that their legacy be used to help choirs in Surrey, which resulted in the acquisition of the Kirby Collection - choral repertoire looked after and hired to choirs in Surrey (and beyond). Both of these legacies have now been spent but the work carried out continues to have impact on Making Music members.
Two other legacies continue to this day to support our work. Philip and Dorothy Green’s gift still provides subsidies for members to engage young artists and contribute to the Adopt a Music Creator projects; and Sir Charles Groves and Lady Hilary Groves’ legacy (former President and Vice President of Making Music) support awards in their name (the Sir Charles Groves Prize and Lady Hilary Groves Prize respectively).
We are fortunate to have received these legacies, to help us do more for members. If you are thinking about your will, we ask that you consider your music group and Making Music. A gift to us will help support our work and our members, and allow us to continue securing the future of leisure-time music groups in the UK. You can rest assured that we will take the responsibility seriously, and we are very happy to have conversations before you finalise you will, about how a legacy should be used.
