THE ROBERT AND PAMELA MACE LEGACY

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)’s Legacy Service is a popular choice for donors who wish to leave a lasting gift to charity in their will. Every year, CAF donates over £20 million to a variety of causes on behalf of our legacy clients.

Many charities rely on legacies as a significant source of income, so their impact is profound. For donors who wish to leave gifts to multiple charities, give anonymously or retain the flexibility to change their legacy, without amending their will, CAF offers a solution.

Pamela and Robert Mace were two donors who chose CAF as their trusted partner to look after their legacy. Since they passed away, the Mace Legacy, managed by CAF, has provided an inspirational lifeline to three international charities. Here are their stories

BACKGROUND

In July 2007, Mrs Mace contacted CAF to discuss the legacy that she and her husband wished to leave to charity. She provided CAF with examples of the types of projects the couple wanted their money to support and completed a CAF Letter of Wishes confirming that she wanted their Executor, her goddaughter Linda Kirby, to be consulted before the funds were distributed. Mrs Mace sadly passed away in 2008, followed by Mr Mace in 2010.
Following the Maces’ wishes, the CAF Advisory team produced a shortlist of recommended charitable organisations around the world that fitted with the Maces’ vision. Pamela and Robert wanted the money to be split equally between a charity that sends books to schools in sub-Saharan Africa, a microloan charity helping women in Africa to set up enterprises and a charity helping Aborigines from Utopia and the Northern Territories in Australia.

Linda Kirby chose to split the money between three charities taken from the CAF Advisory Team shortlist: Book Aid International, International Development Enterprises (iDE) UK and KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc. Following full settlement of the legacy to CAF, funds were distributed to the three organisations in 2012-2013. The Maces’ generosity has had – and continues to have – real impact, allowing the charities to expand their work and help people in need.

THE CHARITIES THAT BENEFITTED FROM THE MACE LEGACY

Book Aid International

Book Aid International works in partnership with African libraries to provide books which give readers pleasure and inspiration, facilitating lifelong learning. Both Pamela and Robert Mace were “avid readers” according to their goddaughter Linda and she selected Book Aid International based on the Maces’ belief that books are “a basic necessity which should be available to everybody.” The Mace Legacy has allowed Book Aid International to expand their reach and scale up their project so that they can provide more books to schoolchildren across Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Since 2012, the Mace Legacy Fund has been a key funder in our work with schools. The projects it has funded and the experience it has helped our charity to gain has directly influenced our ability to plan and carry out larger scale work in schools across sub-Saharan Africa.”
Alison Hubert, CEO of Book Aid International

KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc

KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc is an Aboriginal community service in Sydney that seeks to ensure Aboriginal children in care have access to the highest quality of care possible and their cultural identity continues to be an important part of their upbringing. As a proud Australian, Robert Mace “wished to support the Aboriginal people of Australia in their efforts to build a better life.” Upon receipt of the gift, KARI pledged to use it to ensure “that Aboriginal children in child protection grow up with the love, care and support they need to become proud and healthy Aboriginal Australians.” Through regular contact, Linda has since become friends with Paul and Cheryl Ralph, CEO and Executive Assistant respectively at KARI. She receives regular updates and an annual report of case studies illustrating the personal journeys of young people benefitting from the Mace Scholarship Program.

IDE

iDE helps farming families living in rural poverty by equipping them with the tools and skills they need to make a living and a sustainable income. Pamela Mace was a “selfmade successful businesswoman” and wanted women working in Southern Africa to achieve the financial independence she had when she was working there. The Mace family donation was received by the charity at a critical time, when more and more women were in need of support to help them achieve financial independence, and the money helped transform the charity’s global gender policy.

“Through the Supporting Women’s Agricultural Potential (SWAP) project, CAF’s grant has enabled iDE to improve the businesses of 3,337 women in Zambia, through training in high value horticulture production and access to credit. It has also supported iDE UK to embed gender as part of our policy and practice at a global level, so that we can transform the lives of women farmers and rural entrepreneurs throughout all of our projects.
Lucy Hayter, CEO of iDE UK

NEXT STEPS

If you would like more information or to discuss leaving a CAF Charitable Legacy, please contact our Legacy team on 03000 123 504.