Legacies
GIVE THE GIFT OF EDUCATION. EMPOWER MORE GIRLS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
In an ideal world, all young people would have access to an education that offers them an extraordinary start in life. With your support, NHSG’s bursary scheme will give more girls from the North East the opportunity to reach their full potential. Since 1876 we have educated generations of women who have informed and shaped the world we live in today. It is our mission to ensure that this education remains accessible to the most exceptional young women of the North East regardless of financial circumstance. There comes a time when we reflect on how we lived, what we loved and what we leave behind us for the future. I hope the information in this booklet will encourage you to
consider making a bequest to NHSG and support us in our endeavours to offer a life changing education to the bright young women that hold our shared futures in their hands. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Mr Michael Tippett Head
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Let’ s make history now Many long-standing educational institutions have a strong tradition of securing philanthropic gifts and for generations have built significant endowments, but until recently, this has not been true for girls’ schools.
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” - Malala Yousafzai
Throughout our history, financial control has been male dominated, but with the rise of women controlling their own wealth, the face of philanthropy is changing. Women have never been in a stronger position to lead, change and shape the economic, social and political landscape.
We are asking you to make a gift that invests in the education of talented and determined young women, to instil in them the values and the ethos on which the School stands, and inspire them to become leaders. Compassionate, educated children are the most powerful legacy we can leave behind. 04
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Our bursaries 15% of the pupils at NHSG Senior School are in receipt of a means-tested bursary award. These pupils are funded by the kindness of our supporters who all play a crucial role in ensuring that we can continue to foster academic ability and ambition regardless of individual financial circumstances.
Since NHSG was founded in 2014, we have invested £6m in our bursary programme which has supported 90 pupils through school, with a further 67 currently in school. Bursaries have been a fundamental part of our School since its earliest foundation in 1872 and have produced some remarkable alumnae.
MEET SOME OF OUR BURSARY ALUMNAE
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Award-winning biologist Yolande Heslop-Harrison (née Massey) Since it was established in 1890, only five women have been awarded the highly prestigious Royal Society Darwin Medal for extraordinary contribution to Biology. In 1982 Yolande Heslop-Harrison became the second of these.
A brilliant scientist, Yolande received financial support to attend Central Newcastle High School in the 1930s, going on to study Botany on a scholarship place at Durham University. Yolande graduated with first class honours along with her future husband, Jack. A formidable research team, their collaboration in botanical research initiated the conservation programme of seed
banking, leading to the establishment of the Millennium Seed Bank. The biodiversity of our planet and global food security are held in the genetic information stored here. Yolande’s school experience was the foundation of her extraordinary contribution to the future of our planet and our species.
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Global humanitarian Jo Ashbridge Jo Ashbridge was awarded a bursary to study at Central Newcastle High School and left in 2004. Her passion lies in humanitarian work, disaster relief and sustainable development. She is the Founder and Director of architecture charity, AzuKo. Facilitating development and change through design, AzuKo finds sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty to ensure every person enjoys the right to dignified living conditions. ‘It all comes back to education. It enables us to consider our options and to make informed decisions. It opens up our minds to new possibilities of a better way, connects us to a wider world, builds our confidence and resilience, and
gives us control of our own lives. I have built my life and career on the determination that every inch of kindness counts. I’m striving to pay forward the many opportunities and lessons learned over the course of my life, starting with my time at School. Strong educated girls become a force to be reckoned with and a force for good. Girls, I ask you now, let’s stand together and make this world a better place for all.’
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Sustainable fashion disrupter Isabella West Isabella is a trailblazer in sustainable fashion, building a global retail empire in under five years and leading huge changes in the fashion industry. In 2017 she established Hirestreet, an innovative and highly successful fashion rental company created in response to the environmental impact of fast fashion. Isabella has been named one of Forbes 30 under 30, a North East Business Person of the Year and a GBEA disruptor of the year. Her newest company Zoa is moving retail giants such as Marks & Spencer into the world of fashion rental, globally transforming fast fashion consumption and dramatically reducing garment waste. Isabella is a dedicated champion for sustainability and for women. She believes that success lies, not
just with the individual, but also with the support of the people they surround themselves with, something she learned at School: ‘When times get tough, it’s your network you should turn to for support and I have not found a greater one than the girls I was surrounded with whilst at School’. Isabella is a pioneer, a young female entrepreneur working in a male dominated tech industry and she is committed to helping the next generation of female entrepreneurs, freely sharing her experiences, advice and networks to inspire and support other young women.
MEET SOME OF OUR GENEROUS DONORS
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Valerie Mitchell Class of 1970 Valerie attended Central Newcastle High School from 1960 – 1970 where she excelled at languages, going on to study Modern Languages at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University and then on to a career in translation working for international organisations in Geneva, Switzerland. ‘I have many happy memories of my school days and by including NHSG in my will I can express my gratitude and help support excellent educational facilities for the future. The friendships I made at School have endured and even expanded, thanks to the official and unofficial reunions we have held occasionally. The
teaching and advice I received for my further studies in Modern Languages at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University were of great importance to my career in translation in international organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, where I have spent most of my life. I will forever be grateful for the devotion of my teachers and the education I received at Central High and in listing NHSG among the beneficiaries of my will, I hope that others will be able to benefit from the School’s same high academic standards and sense of community. It certainly feels good to give in this way, knowing that my modest contribution could make a life-changing difference to deserving bright young minds in the future.‘
Dr Miriam Stoppard Class of 1955 Doctor, businesswoman, journalist, broadcaster and writer, Miriam Stoppard has been at the forefront of the revolution in health information since she began her extraordinary career in the early 1970s. Awarded an OBE in 2010 for her services to healthcare and charity she credits her education for her success. ‘I come from a very poor home on Tyneside. Both my parents worked and both were unskilled, but they gave me the greatest gift any parents could give a girl when I was growing up – a belief in educating daughters. There was no way a girl from my background could aspire to Newcastle High – even if I got in, my parents couldn’t afford the uniform. One of my primary school teachers was an old GDST girl and
she put me down for the entrance exam and I was one of the lucky ones who got in on a bursary award. I didn’t know it at the time but my education at Newcastle High has meant everything throughout my life. It gave me the drive to escape the confines of working-class beginnings. It fed my imagination and gave me the belief that there were no limits on what I might achieve. It gave me the courage to take risks. It has helped me fight very hard for the things I believe in and take flight through six careers. NHSG teaches all the core skills girls should have - resilience, self-reliance, self-worth, mindfulness and compassion, confidence, leadership, integrity and risk-taking. NHSG offers a transformational education that will help a girl fulfil her true potential, wherever that may lie. I believe it is every girl’s right and that is why I have left a legacy to NHSG in my will.’
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The Adamson Legacy In 2004, the School received a generous legacy from the Adamson family. When, in 1895, Central Newcastle High School first opened its doors, Mrs Selina Young, a champion of female education, immediately enrolled her daughter Florence and the family’s enduring relationship with the School was established. Florence became one of Central High School’s first Head Girls in 1900. A fiercely loyal friend to the School, she believed in its methods, its results and the ethos of integrity, tolerance and generosity on which it was built. As a result, she enrolled both her own children, Yvonne and Fred. Fred was one of only a handful of boys that could claim to have been a pupil of Central Newcastle High School and then only until he turned 6 years old and the School became girls only.
Yvonne remained throughout, following in her mother’s footsteps to become Head Girl in 1934. Yvonne and Fred were both profoundly affected by WW2, Fred as a prisoner of war and Yvonne as a pioneering field recording journalist. Their experiences led both to believe in the power of education and communication to better understand the world we live in and secure peace for future generations.
The Adamson family maintained a vivid and tireless interest in the School from the very beginning. Now, their generous legacy is invested in an endowment fund and will continue to support the School, offering bursaries in perpetuity so that intelligent, determined girls can receive the education that Yvonne and Fred believed would make the world a better place.
There are five girls attending NHSG today supported by Fred and Yvonne’s legacy to the School. We are fortunate to have in our digital archives a comprehensive collection of Fred’s communications with home during the War. An extraordinary, poignant account of one man’s War: www.newcastlehighschoolforgirls. daisy.websds.net
Since 2004, their gift has supported 28 girls through Senior School, 27 of whom went on to university and 16 of those to Russell Group Universities.
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Thank you
Opening doors, hearts and minds for generations. NHSG and our founding Schools have a combined history of over 300 years of experience in educating and empowering young women, instilling in them the values and ethos on which the school stands. The young women of today need your support. By including a provision for the NHSG bursary fund in your will, you will be helping us make sure that future generations of the most talented, able and determined young women have
access to an exceptional education founded on courage, honour, fairness, kindness and integrity, an education that should be the right of every girl regardless of financial constraints. Leaving a gift in your will, large or small, to our bursary fund isn’t just a gift, it is an investment in all our futures. It honours what your education has meant to you and will have a substantial, long lasting and profound impact on the lives and education of generations of girls to come, making you part of both the transformative philanthropic history of the School and the future of NHSG and its pupils.
Minerva Circle
Farewill will-writing service
Those who pledge a legacy gift to NHSG will be invited to become a member of the GDST Minerva Circle. Members will be recognised in the GDST’s annual Philanthropic Review and will be invited to the GDST’s annual ‘Evening of Thanks’ celebration.
With the GDST we offer a free willwriting service with Farewill who are voted best-rated on Trustpilot and won the top award at the British Wills and Probate Awards for two years running. This service is absolutely free whether or not you decide to leave NHSG a gift. If you would like to know more about this service, or would like to discuss the possibility of leaving a gift to the school in further detail, then please contact our Philanthropy Manager: Polly De Giorgi 0191 201 6549 p.degiorgi@ncl.gdst.net 18
For more information about legacy giving please visit https://www.gdst.net/support/gdst-legacy/ or contact our Philanthropy Manager: Polly De Giorgi 0191 201 6549 p.degiorgi@ncl.gdst.net
For more information please visit our website
newcastlehigh.gdst.net Newcastle High School for Girls Tankerville Terrace Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 3BA