Development and Fundraising
Cokethorpe Camps
Ages 5 to 14
22 July to 30 August
Creating a Brighter Future for Cokethorpe
Through the support of investors and philanthropists, Cokethorpe will undertake a transformation which will provide a bright future for our pupils and our community. Discover how in the film below, and read on for how you can be a part of the campaign.
How we will deliver a Brighter Future
At the centre of our transformational campaign is the vision to create a Brighter Future for the School, our pupils, and the wider community across West Oxfordshire. To achieve this, we have identified five key targets to ensure we fulfil our ambitions.
We will further our educational offering by developing a modern, purpose-built science centre. Ten, spacious laboratories, serviced by fully equipped preparation rooms will transform the scientific opportunities available to our pupils. Whilst moving the Prep School to its newly refurbished home will provide cohesive indoor-outdoor learning flexibility, tailored classrooms and space for the Prep School to expand.
The Mansion House will become a destination Arts Centre, a captivating and inspiring venue for the fostering of burgeoning creativity. Providing ample practice rooms and ensemble spaces, together with evocative quarters to house artists of all palettes and persuasions. The Arts Centre will welcome the community for courses, workshops and classes, in keeping with our intention to keep Cokethorpe’s role within the community as a core element of our thinking and aspirations.
Underpinning the whole vision is our desire to ensure that the carbon footprint of both the project and the School are at the forefront of our thinking and planning.
Supporting our transformation
Investment in our educational vision is paramount. Initially, we are seeking investment to masterplan and develop detailed design of the buildings, to maximise the impact we can have, including the continuation of our journey to net zero by decarbonising our estate.
We are looking to source an initial £1m of seed funding to allow us to start planning our journey to a ‘Brighter Future’.
Arts Studio Feasibility Study
£25,000
Middle Quad Development Study
£25,000
Mansion House Arts Viability Study
£50,000
Estate Decarbonisation Plan
STAGE ONE - £100,000
Heritage Estate Masterplan
Increase Biodiversity - STAGE ONE - £100,000
Science Centre to RIBA Stage Four
£600,000
Contingency (10%)
£100,000
By 2027 to 2030, we need to raise £23.53m in investment to realise the following build phases:
To discuss the campaign, please contact Ms Nicky Wynne MBE at naw@cokethorpe.org or on 01993 892322.
Impact Report
The benefits of philanthropy on a school can be profound. Whether offsetting the direct responsibility for the funding of bursaries from the core finances, supporting the cost of material repairs or upgrades to facilities, or allowing for investments to be made to improve the offering to current and future generations of Cokethorpeans, the impact is deeply felt.
The level of philanthropic contribution is not what is significant – many hands make light work, after all – every gift bequeathed, however big or small, makes its mark.
The Impact Report is an annual publication which highlights the works and benefits provided for which have contributed to the success of the School in the last year.
The Cokethorpe Fund
The Cokethorpe Fund supports and extends the School’s ability to provide means-tested bursaries to brilliant pupils who otherwise would not be able to benefit from all that a Cokethorpe education has to offer.
For more information on the Fund, please peruse the booklet below.
Give to the Area of Greatest Need
Through the Cokethorpe Fund, you may also opt to support the area of greatest need, an option which provides the School with a flexible gift that will be used for our current priorities and areas of greatest need.
How to Make a Gift
Make a gift online
To securely make your gift online please click on one of the four priority areas below and make your donation through our partner Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
Send your details or a cheque by post
You can also set-up a Direct Debit, or make a one-off gift by cheque, by downloading our Donation Form and returning this by post to:
Development Office, Freepost COKETHORPE, OX29 7PU.
Bank transfer
Gifts can be made via bank transfer to:
Cokethorpe School
Sort code: 60-24-60
Account number: 42918553
Please notify the School of any bank transfers by emailing development@cokethorpe.org.
Gift Aid Declaration - please click here to complete
There is no additional cost to you, however, Gift Aid will boost your donation by 25p for every £1 donated and will allow us to provide even more bursaries and undertake even more development projects here at the school.
Please complete the form below in order for us to make this claim. Details must be for individuals who have made or will make any donations. Please complete separately if ore than one donor in a family.
† – You must be a UK taxpayer and pay more Income Tax and/or Capital Gains tax in the current tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed across all your donations. If not it is your responsibility to pay the difference. The amount of tax we claim will be 25% of the value of your donation. If you are a higher rate taxpayer you can claim further tax relief yourself in your Self Assessment tax return.
Leave a Legacy
For those who hold Cokethorpe high in their affections and who wish to help ensure its future growth and preservation; a legacy is a means of giving something back in a way that may not be possible during one’s lifetime.
The Peacock Society recognises those who wish to express their support and affection for Cokethorpe by remembering the School in their Will.
All successful schools rely on more than fee income to ensure their future and to continue to fund new developments and provide access through scholarships and bursaries. Cokethorpe is younger than many, and as a result does not have the benefit of hundreds of years of such support through substantial endowments. Nevertheless, through prudent financial management and good stewardship, the School has continued to develop and to invest in new facilities and increased activities over the years, and this has been, from its inception, greatly assisted by the generosity of its supporters.
We cannot rest on our laurels, however, and demands upon our resources can only increase as time goes by. I would therefore ask you to read the following information and consider making provision for Cokethorpe in your Will. It will make a real difference to the lives of generations of future Cokethorpe pupils and, moreover, can also reduce your estate’s liability to Inheritance Tax.
Mr D J Ettinger
Headmaster
Why make a bequest to Cokethorpe?
For those who hold Cokethorpe high in their affections and who wish to help ensure its future growth and preservation; a legacy is a means of giving something back in a way that may not be possible during one’s lifetime. Only through a Will can you protect the interests of those close to you after your death and make sure your assets are shared out in the way you would wish. Your family and loved ones will naturally come first but, having done this, the School hopes that you will consider including a legacy in its favour in your Will. Cokethorpe School is a registered charity and any bequests of money or assets that you make in your Will are exempt from Inheritance Tax.
Type of legacies
There are a number of different types of legacy and we list the most popular ones below. The School always recommends taking professional legal advice before making a new Will or changing an existing one.
Pecuniary Legacy
This involves leaving a specific sum of money to your beneficiary and is the simplest form of bequest. In order to ensure that inflation does not erode the value of your gift, you might wish to consider a wording that links your actual gift to any official inflation rate following the date of your Will.
Residuary Legacy
This is the easiest way to protect the real value of your gift and involves leaving a percentage, or fraction, of your estate after any specific bequests have been made.
Reversionary Legacy
This is a way of allowing your spouse or other beneficiary to enjoy the income of your assets for their lifetime whilst still making a gift to the School. When they in turn pass away, the assets (or a proportion thereof) then revert to the School.
Conditional Legacy
If you feel that, although you would quite like to leave something to the School, someone else has a stronger claim or need for your estate, then a conditional legacy allows for Cokethorpe only to benefit if that person or persons predeceases you.
Life Assurance
Rather than making a bequest, you can make a gift to Cokethorpe on your death by taking out a Life Assurance policy and naming the School as the beneficiary.
How to leave a legacy to Cokethorpe
If you wish to remember Cokethorpe, and already have a Will in place, you can make a simple amendment to it through a codicil: please take professional legal advice and inform the executors of your Will of your intentions.
All legators are entitled to become members of the Peacock Society as well as being remembered in official rolls of honour and publications, unless you wish to remain anonymous. The School would be delighted to discuss with you any specific form of remembrance or recognition with which you may wish to mark your gift.
Gifts for general purposes are the most helpful to the School as they enable us to allocate funds where they will have the maximum benefit at the time they become available. However, if you would prefer that your gift be allocated for a specific purpose, then please give details of this in your Will.
We very much hope that you will wish to consider making a gift to Cokethorpe School through your Will. If you do decide to leave a legacy to Cokethorpe, we would be grateful if you would let us know by completing the Pledge Form. We can then recognise your generosity and enrol you in to the Peacock Society.
You do not need to give details of your legacy if you do not wish to; nor is the Pledge in any way binding. It is simply a statement of your present intentions and will assist the School in its future planning and administration. If your circumstances alter in any way, you can change your Will again to ensure that those to whom you must give priority are protected.
The Peacock Society
In many ways, the leaving of a bequest to Cokethorpe is the greatest gift you can make, as you will not see the benefit that such generosity will bring to future generations of boys and girls. It is for this reason that we have created the Peacock Society, so that we can both honour and thank our legacy donors during their lifetime for what they have chosen to do thereafter.
Membership of the Society is limited to those who have signified their intention to make a bequest to the School. As a member, you will be invited every year to a special lunch at which, in a quiet but meaningful way, we will be able to say thank you and keep you abreast of current activities and development plans. We will also look to draw upon your experience and wisdom to advise the School on its future intentions. We very much hope that you will wish to become a member of this exclusive and very special body of Cokethorpe supporters.
Contact Us
For more information and for any other enquiries, both formal and informal, about the possibility of leaving a bequest to Cokethorpe in your Will please contact the Development Office:
The Development Office
Cokethorpe School
Witney
Oxon
OX29 7PU
Tel: 01993 892322
Email: development@cokethorpe.org
Where next?
Facilities and the Parkland
What strikes you first is the beauty of our extensive parkland setting, venture further beyond the gates and you will discover there is a great deal more to what Cokethorpe has to offer.
Our History
Founded as Cokethorpe School in 1957, Cokethorpe itself has a long history, stretching back to the tenth century. Originally a boys’ senior boarding school, it has developed significantly since those early days.
Academic Enrichment
Expanding our pupils’ learning beyond the confines of the classroom and the curriculum affords them the opportunity for a greater depth of understanding, and academic independence.
Book your tour today
Come and visit Cokethorpe, whether for an Open Morning or a personal Tour, and Discover Your Cokethorpe.
