PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2026
Why I chose to leave a legacy
The people who leave a gift in their Will to First Foundation come to it from different places, but they tend to land on the same idea. Where a young person starts in life shouldn’t decide how far they can go. People who simply want their values to keep working after they’re gone. Their gifts will help young people who are first in their whānau reach university for generations to come.
A gift in your Will is a deeply personal decision. For Heather and Kate it’s also a way to carry their values forward, creating opportunities for young people they may never meet, but whose lives they can help shape.
Both of them are helping make sure that more young people who are first in their whānau to reach university can access the support, opportunities and connections they need to get there, through their gifts to First Foundation.
Their stories are different, but they share a common belief: that education can change what’s possible, and that we all have the ability to leave something meaningful behind.
Heather Harper
It’s time to give back
My generation of wartime babies are a lucky generation. We grew up in 1950s sunshine and stability. New Zealand so prospered in the 1960s that there were only five people unemployed and the Prime Minister knew their names. There were excellent state schools, virtually free universities and good jobs waiting. We quickly bought houses in our twenties. We watched their value rise and keep on rising as we furthered careers and raised our children. Many of us have retired well because of the excellent education we received and those very favourable land values.
However the world has changed and our beautiful country with it. We must accept that.
The future of our children and grandchildren in New Zealand depends upon the ability to adapt to these changes. To know our history, to be able to reason, analyse, to think and to keep an open mind are necessities not optionals.
“We must embrace education for all, not just for our privileged young. Why waste the intellectual capital of any of our citizens? Why waste the potential of children born into poorer families?”
I use the word poor deliberately, not dressing it up as financially deprived. What might be gloriously possible for them?
My own experience as a teacher, child welfare officer and parent has shown me that a society with educated citizens is a happier and safer society.
When I recently made a new will I made a bequest to the First Foundation. What better thing to do? I love this country. It has given me a wonderful life. My widowed mother received a Widows Pension so that our family of six young children had a stable and happy life albeit without a Dad. When I was awarded an American Field Scholarship our small town paid for it. When I returned with widened ambitions, university fees were very modest. I had dreams!
If we all give something back, other children can have stars in their eyes too.
HEATHER HARPER
Kate Thompson
Why I’ve left First Foundation a gift in my will
When Kate decided to leave a gift for First Foundation in her will, she was continuing a relationship with the charity that started ten years ago at a school prizegiving.
“First Foundation would be at some of the school prizegivings I attended. I loved watching smart young people bounce up on stage to receive their scholarships. Even better was knowing that those First Foundation scholarships were opening doors to opportunities that could help set these students up for life – access to university study and four years of support from a whole community of good people.”
In 2019 Kate became involved in First Foundation’s mahi, signing up to be a volunteer mentor for a young female scholar from Tāmaki College in Auckland. Since then, she has helped the charity engage its mentors and Alumni, written training resources, and donated in memory of a friend. Adding a bequest in her will was the next step in continuing this relationship.
Why did Kate choose First Foundation for ‘gift in will’ giving?
“I’d been to several First Foundation graduation events by then and I’d seen what the First Foundation model was achieving. I remember meeting a young woman who’d recently graduated as a nurse, and a young man who was now a qualified mechanical engineer and thinking – wow! We need more of this.”
Kate also knew from her volunteering that the charity had ambitious, long-term plans to do more. “So, when I next visited my lawyer to update my will, I added a bequest to support that ‘more’.
”The bequest process was quick and easy. “I told my lawyer Donna that I wanted to support First Foundation and she did the rest. She said that taking these instructions is one of the favourite parts of her job. She loves hearing about the causes her clients are connected with and knowing that her work is helping those causes too.”
Why does Kate choose to leave bequests in her will?
“I think my will should reflect my life. I’d love to see a world where everyone has access to opportunity, whatever socio-economic background they come from. Over the years I’ve put a fair bit of time into volunteering with organisations like First Foundation that share my values and that I trust to make things happen. A bequest helps them continue their work, long after I’m gone.”
“I think my will should reflect my life. I’d love to see a world where everyone has access to opportunity, whatever socio-economic background they come from.”
Over the years I’ve put a fair bit of time into volunteering with organisations like First Foundation that share my values and that I trust to make things happen. A bequest helps them continue their work, long after I’m gone.”
KATE THOMPSON
Heather and Kate have each chosen to leave a gift in their Will because they believe in what’s possible when young people are given the opportunity to reach their potential.
A gift in your Will to First Foundation can help create those opportunities for generations of rangatahi to come. It can be a lasting expression of the people, experiences and values that have shaped your own life and a way to help someone else experience a first of their own.
Leave a legacy of firsts. Help open the door to a young person’s first university lecture, first degree, first career opportunity, and all the firsts that can follow.
If you’re considering leaving a gift to First Foundation in your Will, we’d love to talk with you.
