Interview with a philanthropist

What made you consider leaving a legacy?

Making a legacy bequest is a positive, affirmative step. It’s a wonderful opportunity to define what contribution you want to make to the welfare of future generations and how you would like to be remembered. However, when I first started on this pathway, like many people, I was apprehensive about the whole finality of making a Will. But this has changed, and I would like to share with you why that is.

I am a pharmacologist by training and the whole of my career has been spent in different aspects of drug development. During this time, I experienced first-hand how novel treatments have the potential to dramatically improve patients’ lifestyles and return them to good health. This gave me an ambition that if I ever had the necessary capital, I would like to make a legacy which would contribute to the advancement of medical research, focusing on areas not typically undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry. This opportunity came my way when I sold the two companies and realised the capital that made this a possibility.

 

Why did you decide to support cancer research?

In an ageing population and with the availability of better means of diagnosis, cancer has a remarkably high incidence. Indeed, 1 in 2 people are now diagnosed with some form of the disease, which means that nearly all of us will be affected by cancer directly or indirectly. Indeed, the reason that I retired was due to a diagnosis of cancer. This really brought home to me the huge impact that cancer has and I felt that directing a legacy to this area of medical research would make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of upcoming generations.

 

Which charity should I support?

This was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make as there are a lot of charities in the cancer area, and many do very valuable work. I wanted to be as fair, and as objective, as possible in deciding which charity to support, so I identified my key decision criteria, and I used them to make a final selection from my shortlist of candidate charities. These criteria included topics such as:

• The charity’s key mission statements and objectives
• Its long-term vision and strategy
• Success of the charity in terms of its previous achievements
• Its scale of operation and its resources.
• Its impact on patient outcomes
• Governance considerations

I then met with the final 2 short listed charities for in-depth discussions. The charity I selected addressed all the above issues, but it also set up one-to-one meetings with senior researchers whose work they funded. This provided me with the opportunity to discuss the impact that the charity’s support has had on achieving their long-term research objectives. I was also able to nominate to which area of the charity’s work that I would like to direct my legacy, and, to this day, I receive regular progress updates and have a relationship manager at the charity who keeps me in the loop.

This helped to get to know first-hand a lot more about the areas that I will one day invest in! I have to say that my Will now feels more like the start of something new for the future, not a final chapter. I find this both empowering and exciting.

Since making that initial legacy, I have become much more involved with several aspects of the charity’s work. This involves being a member of various scientific and strategic committees. I also provide pro bono consultancy, drawing on my career experiences. This involvement has strengthened my commitment to the charity and the work that it undertakes. This has also resulted in making annual, in-life, donations over several years, directed to those areas of the charity’s work which reflects my interests.