The Sherborne Girls Foundation
Sherborne Girls Foundation The Sherborne Girls Foundation exists to assist the school in developing its social responsibility activities, and stimulating philanthropy to support the growth and development of the school.
Supporting Sherborne Girls
Katherine Massey Director of Development and Marketing k.massey@sherborne.com 01935 818215
The Sherborne Girls Foundation is focused on changing lives and empowering the girls to be an influence for good – whether through bursarial support, community partnerships and service, inspirational experiences or exceptional facilities. It is also about supporting the school so that we can remain at the forefront of women’s education; driving innovation and educating the girls for the future. We would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to support this vision. Thank you so much.
We have identified five key objectives, aligned with the school’s five strategic pillars.
Full boarding
Culture of Ambition
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY DEVELOPING A WORLD-CLASS CAMPUS
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE THROUGH OUR CANDLELIGHT BURSARIES
Developing the buildings and grounds to deliver the highest standards and provide exceptional facilities and resources.
Attracting talent and widening access through generous bursaries for girls with the promise and character to thrive at Sherborne Girls, where challenging circumstances at home mean a boarding education would be life-changing.
21st Century Women
Community
Leadership & Management
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE THROUGH OUR ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY EXPANDING OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY GROWING A STRONG ENDOWMENT
Supporting enrichment opportunities to nurture and inspire the girls to achieve academically and be fully prepared for their careers and future lives, with the desire to make a difference.
Expanding and deepening community relations and partnerships within Sherborne and further afield to share facilities and expertise.
Growing an endowment fund as a long-term strategy to support the school’s priorities, and in particular its commitment to maintaining and expanding the provision of Candlelight Bursaries.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE
For over a hundred years, Sherborne Girls has been educating young women who have gone out into the world to make their mark. These young women have come from many different backgrounds and have gone on to pursue a myriad of dreams. We hope that you will support us, whether because you or your family have benefited from an education at Sherborne Girls or because you support our vision for the girls today and for generations to come. Sherborne Girls is a registered charity and receives no other funding. We do not have a big endowment on which to draw and the majority of fee income goes on running costs. This means that fundraising is necessary for us to continue to deliver our vision and remain at the forefront of women’s education.
Help us widen access, change lives and send out into the world girls with character who are able to think clearly and creatively, choose wisely and who have the courage to make a difference.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY DEVELOPING A WORLD-CLASS CAMPUS
Giving creative arts the facilities they deserve OUR TARGET
£2.5m
With £2.1m already raised, we are now reaching out to our whole school community to raise the final £400k £2.5m £2.0m £1.5m £1.0m £0.75m £0.5m £0.25m £0
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
NEW ARTS CENTRE The new Arts Centre, currently under construction, is the biggest and most exciting development the school has ever undertaken. As well as giving creative arts the facilities they deserve, the new centre will also create a welcoming hub at the heart of the school, benefiting the daily lives of the girls, staff and Sherborne community for generations to come. • Recital Hall with over 350 fixed seats • 560 capacity as assembly hall • Performance space, purpose built sound-proofed practice rooms and recording studio • Conversion of Stuart Centre to drama school, black box performance space • Foyer and display space • Multi-functional social space We have raised over £2.1m towards our £2.5m target but, with building work now underway, we need your help more than ever to close the gap. Please support our Appeal and help us reach our target. You can make a gift as a one-off
donation or payments spread over a period of time. We value every donation, whatever size, and would be delighted to hear from you. A huge thank you to everyone who has already made a donation. We are delighted to have offered named seats and rooms to a significant number of donors who have already generously supported our appeal. We are so nearly there. Together we can make it happen!
We aim to deliver excellence in every area of school life and we have invested boldly in our facilities over the past ten years: a new science centre; refurbished classrooms with first class technology; new and improved boarding houses; a new swimming pool and sports centre; new sixth form centre and new astro.
Creating exciting opportunities by widening access OUR TARGET
2024
10 girls on Candlelight Bursaries at any one time by 2024
CANDLELIGHT BURSARIES Through our full, transformational Candlelight Bursaries we aim to widen access and support girls for whom a boarding education can be life-changing.
about ensuring each student receives high quality help and support, giving them the opportunity of a brighter future, regardless of their background.
As well as benefiting the girls’ social and educational opportunities, we hope that our Candlelight Bursaries recipients will also raise the educational aspirations in their home communities and in so doing further encourage social mobility.
We currently have five girls on full Candlelight Bursaries in the school. We aim to increase this by one girl each year so that by 2024, the school’s 125th anniversary year, we will have 10 girls on Candlelight Bursaries at any one time.
We partner with The Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation (RNCSF) to identify girls who would really gain from our help. It is not about finding the most gifted but
Being a Candlelight Bursary recipient has changed my life. It has given me opportunities I never thought were possible. It has helped give me a different perspective, along with the tools and confidence to go on to university and have a career. I have been supported in all areas of my life, both at school and at home, by teachers and by my friends. There are no problems that I can’t talk about or get support for. Sherborne Girls has given me friends for life. Chesney Taylor-Smith Candlelight Bursary recipient, 2012-19
The longer term strategy is to grow an endowment fund to ensure sustainability of the bursary programme.
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE THROUGH OUR CANDLELIGHT BURSARIES
The RNCSF contributes to the cost of each Candlelight girl; however, we need your help to fund the difference. You can help change a girl’s life by making a one-off donation or regular gifts of any amount to our Candlelight Bursaries Fund. Alternatively for £25,000, you can support one girl for a year.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE THROUGH OUR ENRICHMENT PROGR AMME THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW We look to identify opportunities for members of our school community – parents, past parents, Old Girls and Honorary Old Girls – to ‘give back’. We invite you to share your time and expertise to enhance the girls’ learning, and to help prepare and inspire the girls to flourish and make a positive contribution to the world. Our careers and networking events, including our annual Women in Leadership evening, provide opportunities for Old Girls and Friends of Sherborne Girls to share their knowledge and advice and inspire the next generation. We invite guest speakers from the Old Girls and school community to give ‘TEDstyle’ talks, while industry experts across a range of sectors
share their knowledge and experience, offering careers advice to the wider Sherborne Girls community encompassing Old Girls, recent graduates, parents, and governors, as well as current students deciding on their future career paths. Ambition, leadership and 21st century women are key areas of our school strategy and our culture. By embedding these ideals and behaviours in girls from a young age, we are equipping them with the skills needed for the future work place where gender should be no bar to success.
We are committed to further developing our programme of careers and networking events and encouraging Old Girls and members of the community to be role models. If you would be prepared to give up some of your time and talent to: offer careers advice; mentor; offer work experience; attend our careers events, including future Women in Leadership initiatives; or to talk to the girls as part of our inspirational speaker series, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch on 01935 818215 or development@sherborne.com
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY EXPANDING OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY
100%
of our girls take part in charity or community outreach projects
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
COMMUNITY RELATIONS We encourage and facilitate student-led community initiatives in and around the Sherborne area, with a particular emphasis on service. Such outreach activities include members of our sixth form sitting as Youth Advisors on the Sherborne Town Council; our teachers and girls volunteering in local state schools, girls performing for patients in the local hospital and care homes, and our girls interacting and connecting with adults and children in the area with specific needs and disabilities. These initiatives not only add value to the community but also encourage student leadership and provide opportunities for the girls to make a positive difference and give back – key principles in our school vision.
We also enjoy educational links with several state schools in the area including The Gryphon School in Sherborne and Preston Primary School in Yeovil. Members of our Senior Leadership Team sit on local governing bodies, many of our teachers deliver workshops within the state schools and we welcome a few selected pupils from The Gryphon School to sit their IB at Sherborne Girls on full bursaries. We aim to be as outward facing as possible. In many cases, these activities involve the sharing of time, expertise or simply our facilities but in some cases, additional funding is required.
Building a fund to support our long-term strategy
Remembering Sherborne Girls in your Will is one of the most personal and significant ways in which you can help us change lives, empower girls to be an influence for good, remain at the forefront of women’s education, widen access and attract talent irrespective of financial means.
SUPPORTING SHERBORNE BY GROWING A STRONG ENDOWMENT
Those of us who are privileged to have been educated at Sherborne Girls know how greatly the experience has enriched our lives. Today, there are even more opportunities for girls to develop their own individual skills and interests and to build their selfconfidence. By way of thanks I have left a legacy in my Will in order to help future generations receive an education which will prepare them to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world. Elizabeth Honnywill (Lindsay-Rea) A’59
Gwendoline Merritt or ‘Queenie’
LEGACIES
TORCHBEARERS
We want to give future generations of girls, from all walks of life, the same opportunity and are asking those who are ready to make their Will to consider passing on the light of a first-class education to future generations of girls through a legacy gift of any kind, of any size, no amount being too small.
Gwendoline Merritt, affectionately known as Queenie, left her estate worth £140,000 to the school when she sadly passed away in 2014. Queenie was employed as a domestic at Sherborne Girls for an extraordinary number of years, as well as being a tea lady for Kenelm.
Those who choose to leave a gift in their Will to the school are our ‘Torchbearers’, passing on the light of an excellent boarding education to future generations of girls. Torchbearers are invited to join The Torchbearers’ Society, led by Old Girl and former School Governor Jane Reekie (Nicholson) E’59. Writing a Will can be a life-affirming experience. When the time is right, it is an opportunity for you to make sure that your wishes count after you have gone. Always consult your solicitor before making a Will. If you have already made arrangements, you can make a simple addition by Codicil.
The ancient Greek ‘Lampadedromia’ or ‘torch race’, which embodies the values of strength, endurance, individual responsibility and teamwork, gave rise to the Olympic flame and in turn inspired the school motto and original badge, before being adopted by Sherborne Old Girls. These values still underpin Sherborne Girls today.
She loved working at the school and commented when she retired that it was a privilege to have been able to work here. The privilege was ours. Queenie never failed in her commitment to the house, even reporting that if the weather was bad, she would sleep on the floor in the kitchen in front of the stove so that she would be at work the following day. Queenie made the ultimate gesture in leaving her estate to the school in her Will. Her donation has made a significant contribution to the Arts Centre Appeal and we are delighted to name a room in the new Centre in her memory.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
Making a Gift
PAYMENT METHODS
Our Foundation’s strategy is about changing lives and empowering the girls to be an influence for good – whether through funding bursarial support, community partnerships and service, inspirational experiences or exceptional facilities. It is also about supporting the school so that it can remain at the forefront of women’s education; driving innovation and educating the girls for the future. Thank you for considering making a gift to Sherborne Girls.
If you are ready to make a donation, the following are the different ways in which you can choose to make your payment. If you are eligible for Gift Aid, please complete the Gift Aid Declaration form that can be found on the website and which will enable us to claim Gift Aid on your donation. Cheque You can send a cheque made payable to The Sherborne Girls Foundation to: The Development Office Sherborne Girls Bradford Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3QN Standing Order You can spread your donation and make regular payments by standing order. The Gift Aid Declaration form also serves as a standing order request.
Bank Transfer You can electronically transfer your donation to us. Please pay NatWest Bank, Yeovil, for the credit of The Sherborne Girls Foundation. Sort Code: 60-19-12 Account Number: 26128969 Please use your full name as your payment reference. Online You can visit our donation page on the website sherborne.com/support-us and pay online. Please note there is a transaction fee.
Where the school needs it most A gift for general purposes or ‘where the school needs it most’ is the most useful as it allows us to focus on the greatest need without restrictions. However, you may prefer to leave your gift to Candlelight Bursaries or to fund the Arts Centre Appeal.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
Tax Benefits
GIFT AID
COMPANY GIVING
MATCHED GIVING
The Sherborne Girls Foundation has charitable status, so this allows any gifts that you make to us to be tax-efficient. The benefits of Gift Aid are considerable. If you pay tax on any kind of income, including capital gains, then the school is entitled to reclaim the basic rate of tax that you have already paid on your gift at no cost to you – this works out at 25p for every £1 donated. Higher rate tax payers can also reclaim the difference between standard and higher rate tax on their donation for themselves through their Tax Return, which means it costs you less to give.
When a company makes a donation to charity, the value of the gift can be offset against the company’s highest rate of Corporation Tax. Companies pay their donations gross and will not have to make any Gift Aid declaration. Your company simply makes whatever donation you want and then tax relief is claimed against the value of the gift when calculating profits for Corporation Tax. Company gifts can be made on a regular or oneoff basis.
Matched giving is a simple way of maximising your giving. It is an arrangement between a company and its employee. Many companies will donate a sum of money relating to the amount their employee has raised for, or donated to, the charity of their choice. Please check with your HR Department as to whether your company offers a matched giving scheme as this could make your donation worth even more. Please visit the website for a list of companies who are known to support matched giving.
In order to make a Gift Aid declaration and claim back 25p for every £1 you donate, we ask you to complete the Gift Aid declaration form on our website sherborne. com/support-us The declaration applies to all donations made in the last 4 years. Your donations will qualify as long as they are not more than 4 times what you have paid in tax in that tax year (6 April to 5 April).
LEGACIES If you choose to leave a legacy to The Sherborne Girls Foundation, your bequest will be free from inheritance tax. You may also decide to bring your legacy forward, so that you can see the benefits of your gift during your lifetime. As The Sherborne Girls Foundation is a charity, you would also not have to pay tax on your lifetime gift and you may benefit from tax savings by offsetting the donation against your taxable income or gains. A gift or legacy for general purposes or where the school needs it most is the most useful as it allows us to focus on the greatest need without restrictions. However, you may prefer to leave your gift to Candlelight Bursaries or to fund the Arts Centre Appeal.
GIFTS IN KIND As The Sherborne Girls Foundation is a registered charity, it is also possible to make tax-efficient donations of land, property or shares. Donors benefit from tax relief on both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Please ask for further details about this at development@sherborne.com
OVERSEAS GIVING If you live in Canada or the United States we have tax-effective giving schemes, set-up in partnership with Sherborne School, through the Canadian Friends of Sherborne (CFS) and the American Friends of Sherborne (AFS). You can find supporting literature on how to make a gift tax-efficiently from Canada or the United States on our website.
If you would like to discuss ways in which you might be able to support the school or any of the initiatives that you have read here, please don’t hesitate to contact Katherine Massey, Director of Development and Marketing on 01935 818215 or k.massey@sherborne.com. Thank you so much.
Please support us:
sherborne.com/support-us
Thank you.
Sherborne Girls Bradford Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3QN 01935 818320 development@sherborne.com sherborne.com
