Lancaster Royal
Grammar School

LRGS Legacy Scheme & John Gardyner Society

One of the easiest and most effective ways of helping the School in the future is by leaving a legacy in your Will.

Once you are happy that you have provided for your family and friends, you may like to leave a legacy to Lancaster Royal Grammar School. It would be a tremendous gesture to help ensure the School’s future for many generations to come.

Lancaster Royal Grammar School partly owes its existence to a bequest.  In 1469, local merchant John Gardyner recorded his intention to establish a school ‘to instruct and inform the boys in grammar, freely.’   Prior to this the School had been solely fee paying. This original endowment heralded the beginning of free education for boys from Lancaster which continues today.  In 1472, John Gardyner’s Will made provision for “a certain grammar school within the town of Lancaster to be supported freely at my own proper charges ...”.

Gardyner’s endowment has been followed by a series of subsequent bequests which have enabled Lancaster Royal Grammar School to develop and grow to its present size and status as one of the UK’s leading state schools.  The Trustees of the Charity own all of the School’s land and buildings.  All donations and bequests go into the LRGS Charity (number 526602) and are carefully administered by the Trustees.

The John Gardyner Society has been established to recognise those who have signified their intention to leave a gift to Lancaster Royal Grammar School in their Wills. The Society, named after the School’s founder, provides the opportunity to offer our thanks to the membership, recognise their generosity and to keep them informed of the School’s progress and plans.

Membership is open to anyone who has made a bequest to the School. Recognising that such a decision is often private and personal, the list of members is not published.  However, benefits include an invitation to special events and a benefactor’s OL tie.

How you can help

A growing number of Old Lancastrians and friends of LRGS are choosing to support the School in this way.  Many are finding that legacies allow them to support the School more generously than their present circumstances permit.  Furthermore, legacies to charities are free of Inheritance Tax, so they can reduce the total liability on your estate.

If you intend to include a legacy to the School, it would be helpful for us to know about your decision.  For further information please contact the Development Office on 01524 580612 or via email.