“We both have a lifelong love of animals,” says Pip. “Mine started on my grandfather’s smallholding in Shropshire, where he kept pigs, goats and a tame pheasant called Peggy.
“We’re now retired civil servants who have supported WWF with regular monthly donations all of our married life, going right back to campaigning against whaling in the 1970s. We also support specific projects and attended a special WWF-UK supporter event about tigers. It’s so rewarding to hear that the global tiger population is now increasing.
“We’ve always been impressed with how WWF gets things done so diplomatically. Sometimes you can take action and it just puts people’s backs up. But they know how to talk to the right people to make things happen.
“Though we’ve supported WWF projects all over the world, we don’t travel widely – we’re too conscious of the environmental impact. But even though we don’t go to these places, we’re with WWF on the journey. And when we’re invited to events, WWF’s experts keep us up to date with what’s happening, what they’re doing and how we’re supporting them – whether its river dolphins on the Yangtze or jaguars in the Amazon. Being so connected to them makes us feel part of a really special family.
”We like to buy items from the WWF shop; it’s good publicity for WWF when you wear something with the panda logo. Val also raises funds by creating and selling animal paintings and greetings cards. It’s absolutely fantastic to think we’re making something for a good cause.
“Our wills are important to us, and when we decided to update them to reflect our current wishes more appropriately, we contacted WWF. They put us in touch with the National Free Wills Network who, in turn, supplied a list of solicitors who work with them. We chose a firm who were really helpful and thorough, and made the process very straightforward.
“It was important to us both that our new wills would increase our gift to WWF-UK, who we know will continue to work tirelessly to protect our world. Basically, we want to give something that lives on after us, and we can’t think of a better way of doing this.”
Find out more about leaving a gift in your will
If you have any questions about leaving a gift in your will, contact Grace by calling 01483 412153 or emailing grace@wwf.org.uk, or you can visit our Gifts In Wills page
BANNER IMAGE: © SHUTTERSTOCK / AJIT S N / WWF
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“I want to contribute to something close to my heart”
For nature lover Cindy, leaving a legacy for WWF is a way to help us work towards a world where wildlife is protected for future generations
