Kate’s Oxfam legacy

"I signed up to volunteer half a day a week at the local Oxfam shop. The staff member responsible for the group of shops I was working in was a very, very inspirational character. She not only trained me in how to run an Oxfam shop properly but in a few weeks, she had persuaded me to become the volunteer shop manager. She also taught me a lot about Oxfam’s work overseas and its approach to development. She had been overseas herself and I could hear directly from her about the difference that Oxfam made to peoples’ lives.

I grew more and more interested in the organisation and in addition to running the shop I started doing additional activities such as running fundraising events and I set up a local campaigning group."

"I originally said I would take a year off before going back to work, in the end it was 10. I was getting a lot of satisfaction in what I was doing for Oxfam. I felt I was making a genuine contribution doing my tiny bit towards trying to make the world a better place.

But now I am back almost where I started, working as a volunteer in the Oxfam shop in Wimbledon village, where I was a volunteer manager in the late 1980s and early 1990s."

"Some volunteers here in the shop I know from back in the late 80s when I was volunteering. There are people volunteering in the shop who have been there since 1987."

"During your lifetime you may not be in a financial position to make a substantial gift but leaving a legacy in your Will gives you a real opportunity to do so.

I have talked to my children about why I have left a legacy to Oxfam. I’ve explained why it is important to me and they respect that. I still have that sense of trust that the money would be well spent by Oxfam and will make a real difference."