Thank you for coming to this page - it shows you are thinking about our hospitals and that means so much.

Legacies to our hospitals have a huge impact, funding the latest medical equipment and pioneering research, providing extra support for our special staff and creating more comfortable and welcoming hospital environments for patients, young and old.

You may be thinking about leaving a legacy because you have been touched by the care you or a loved one has received. This is such a special way to say thank you.

You may wish to leave a gift that will have a really positive impact on your local community. With our charity you know that your donation will stay local, directly benefitting people in our region.

Or you may simply want to help others at the time of their greatest need. And you can be assured your donation can do just that.

A gift in your Will, whether big or small, can help transform care for hundreds and even thousands of local patients for years to come. They are so important to our hospitals and we are very grateful indeed that you are considering making this special step.

LINK to the important information you need to include in your Will

Legacies have enabled our charity to make inspiring improvements to care across all our hospitals - the John Radcliffe, Horton General, Churchill and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

In fact if you have been a patient in our hospitals, you may well have directly benefitted from improvements that gifts in Wills have funded at some point in your care.

In recent years gifts through Wills helped us to build the Oxford Children's Hospital, and fund major projects at the Churchill, the Oxford Eye Hospital, the JR Emergency Department, the Brodey Cancer Centre at the Horton as well as support pioneering cancer and cardiac research projects.

In fact, there's a long history of the impact of legacies dating back as far as the very first hospital in Oxford. This was founded in 1758 thanks to a legacy from Dr John Radcliffe, the physician to Queen Anne. The Horton General in Banbury received similar support some years later from May Ann Horton.

This tradition of caring for the future of others in the local community is the fundamental basis of our hospital charity.

With our charity, you have the benefit of knowing that your donation will be spent in your local hospitals, and could benefit friends, family and your local community long into the future.

As none of us know the exact direction medical developments will lead us to in the future, we suggest you ask a solicitor to liaise with us about the precise wording in your Will. This will ensure the gift is flexible enough to cope with medical innovations and future developments, and whatever happens we can use the gift wisely and respectfully, in line with your wishes.

READ HOW RECENT LEGACIES HAVE MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE

Raise a cuppa to Ron - the special legacy gift from a kind-hearted caretaker

legacy gift funds state-of-the-art CT scanner to help 19,000 patients a year 

You may decide to leave a legacy as a 'thank you' for the care you, or a loved one, has received at one of our hospitals, or through the desire to fund medical advances and improvements in care that could benefit your own families and communities in the future.

Perhaps you have been shown special kindness during your time in hospital and you want to extend that to others.

We know this important decision is unique and personal - so we are always here to answer your questions and talk to you about your personal wishes.

Taking the time to make a Will gives you peace of mind, and ensures that the people you love, and the causes you care about most, are provided for.

By leaving a legacy to Oxford Hospitals Charity you will be helping to ensure that future generations benefit from the very best healthcare and latest research here in your hospital. It's an incredible gift. Thank you for considering it.

Information for your Will The following information will help you or your solicitor, but don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you would like more guidance. Our charity is called 'Oxford Hospitals Charity' Our registered charity number is 1175809 Our address is: Oxford Hospitals Charity Unipart House Garsington Road Oxford OX4 2PG

When writing a Will

We recommend using a qualified professional to help you create your Will. This makes sure your wishes are clear and the Will is legally sound.

If you already have a Will, a solicitor can easily amend it for you by writing a codicil to file alongside the existing Will.

Where possible, we encourage broad support, such as choosing to support the charity as a whole (so we can direct your fund to our areas of greatest need) or one of our hospitals or larger medical areas.

This ensures your donation is flexible enough to adjust to future advances in medical technology and be used where the need is greatest.

You should name the charity, Oxford Hospitals Charity, and include the registered charity number (1175809).

If you wish to specify a particular hospital or area it is helpful to say 'I wish to support …' as this means if the area is re-named, or medical technology changes substantially, we can ensure your gift can still be used.

There are three main ways of making a donation through your Will.

• A residuary legacy is a percentage of your estate - you can include your loved ones and charitable causes and will know that the value of these gifts will not decrease with inflation.
• A pecuniary legacy is a fixed sum of money.
• You can also choose to leave a specific gift - such as a building, piece of land or shares.

We would welcome the chance to talk to you about how a gift in your Will could help across our hospitals. If you would like to find out more, please contact us, or ask your solicitor to contact us. Tel: 01865 743 444 Email: [email protected]