It started with a Gift...
In 1947, the Fifth Marquess of Bute gifted his home, Cardiff Castle and its parklands, to the City of Cardiff. Following this, in 1949, the Cardiff College of Music (now the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama), was established and the Castle became its home for 25 years.
We now train over 700 students in drama and music each year, within a vibrant and popular centre for the creative arts, which attracts audiences of around 60,000 annually. This offers our students beautiful world-class facilities and a professional environment from which to work and to perform to the public...and all still adjacent to Bute Park and our original home, Cardiff Castle.
The College needs legacy gifts
We want to ensure that the College continues to thrive and to offer the very best training and the most exceptional opportunities to the talented young people who study with us. Leaving a gift to the College in your Will, is one of the most important and valuable actions you can take to help us to do this. Together, we can help them to reach their potential, develop their particular career pathways and, as they graduate, to make their own, individual contribution to the performing arts anywhere in the world. Donating in someone’s memory can also be an enriching way of remembering loved ones, whilst supporting future generations of artistic talent.
Any donations you make in your Will are exempt from inheritance tax and you can reduce your overall tax rate if more than 10% of your estate is left to charity.
Your legacy gift will make a difference
There are a number of ways in which a legacy gift from you will make a difference and be valuable to the College. We welcome gifts of any size and even 1% of your estate could have a marked impact.
Gifts that are unrestricted are the most powerful, as they will allow us to invest in the most pressing strategic priorities and the most exciting opportunities available at the time the gift is received.
However, if you would like to specify how your legacy is used, there are several options available that we have identified as always making a significant, positive difference to our students.
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Scholarships and bursaries
Scholarships and bursaries enable the College to offer vital financial support to the most talented students and to those who are unable to meet the cost of our specialised and often one-to-one training. At RWCMD, we have significantly fewer scholarships than other conservatoires with longer histories and established endowments and, in order to support our students as they do theirs, bursaries and scholarships are a high priority for us.
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Public performance opportunities and interactions with international tutors and mentors
Performances, exhibitions and events of all kinds and scales are a core element within our students’ training, ensuring that they are fully prepared for the professional world they are about to enter. The College offers its students a range of such opportunities in Cardiff, Wales, London and now in America too.
Direct tuition from, and masterclasses with, international practitioners, who are working at the highest level, are also an integral part of our students’ training. The costs of putting on productions and performances and engaging professional artists to work with our students are high and always rising, so legacy gifts towards these areas of our work will always be very valuable.
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Junior Conservatoire and Young Actors Studio
The Junior Conservatoire and Young Actors Studio offer the only training of its kind in Wales, immersing students in a specialist environment where they can benefit from an intensive and holistic education, preparing them for advanced study and examinations, auditions and life in their chosen fields.
Gifts in Wills will help us to establish our teaching in areas of Wales we currently do not reach and enable us to provide scholarship and bursary support to young musicians and actors throughout the whole country.
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Buildings and facilities
Following the opening of new world class facilities in 2011, it continues to be important for the College to grow and to develop as new opportunities emerge. In due course, we aim to build new studios and training facilities, along with an exceptional new library space, both for the students and the general public who wish to have access to our collections. Legacy gifts will ensure that these plans are realised and, where appropriate, new spaces can be named in recognition of major donations.
The ’49 Circle
The Royal Welsh College has established The ’49 Circle to thank and acknowledge a special circle of loyal supporters who are making their own philanthropic gift by pledging a donation to the College in their Will.
As someone who has pledged to make a gift in your Will, you will be invited to become a member of The ’49 Circle. If you would like to be part of this group, we will thank you by:
- Providing regular communications from the College, including the termly What’s On guide
- Acknowledging your support on our ‘Thank You’ page *
- Inviting you to The ’49 Circle annual event
- Sending you the RWCMD Annual Report
* Please note you can of course choose to remain anonymous
Guidance
If you decide you want to make a bequest to the College and know how you wish to direct it, we advise that you consult a solicitor to ensure your Will is legally valid, up to date and reflects your intentions.
If your wishes are simple, these examples of wording covering two different kinds of legacy, may be helpful to you.
Legacy of all or part of net estate
‘I give to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Registered Charity Number 1139282, of Castle Grounds, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3ER (hereinafter called the RWCMD) the residue (or % share of the residue) of my estate absolutely and I direct that (i) the proceeds may be used for the general purposes of the RWCMD and (ii) a receipt signed by a person for the time being authorised by the Board of the RWCMD shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors’.
Fixed sum legacy
‘I give to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Registered Charity Number 1139282, of Castle Grounds, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3ER (hereinafter called the RWCMD) the sum of £ _____ and I direct that (i) the proceeds may be used for the general purposes of the RWCMD and (ii) a receipt signed by a person for the time being authorised by the Board of the RWCMD shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors’.
Further information
If you would like to have a confidential discussion, we would be delighted to discuss with you how your support – through a legacy gift, or a donation in memory – could be most effective, whilst meeting your wishes.
Sara West
029 2039 1420
sara.west@rwcmd.ac.uk
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Castle Grounds
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3ER
legacies@rwcmd.ac.uk
Hugh James is the College’s Legacies Partner:
