Neville Surti

“As one gets older you start to reflect on your past life experiences. Amongst the fondest I have are the three years when I lived at London House during the early 1980s. The College provided an excellent foundation for the formative years of my career. It allowed me to complete my academic studies while interacting with an amazingly talented group of people. This open cultural, social and academic environment initiated a number of lifelong friendships.

“Since retiring after a fruitful career, I am in a position to realise what a privileged opportunity I had and I’ve now have been catching up with these friends, visiting them all over the world. When reminiscing with them, phrases like “the best times of my life” and “what great times we had” are frequently said. I think this is common among most Goodenough College Alumni.

“With this in mind I decided to help someone less fortunate than me to have access to these same opportunities by leaving a Legacy gift to the College in my Will. I felt this would be a good way of giving something back. I contacted the College and found there are a number of different funds that you can support and I chose a cause that was closest to my thoughts, namely the Scholarship programme. Having recently attended a virtual presentation where two such recipients discussed the difference their financial assistance has made to fulfilling their academic aspirations, I felt validated in my decision.

“With the recent launch of Goodenough Global providing a platform for bringing even more Alumni together, hopefully people will have a chance to reacquaint themselves with their peers and remember their ‘golden years’ at Goodenough College. They may also think again about whether they can help perpetuate the College’s values of supporting a diverse community from varying backgrounds by bequeathing something in their Will.”

If you wish to talk personally about your wishes for remembering Goodenough College in your Will please contact Sarah Cranmer, Head of Development on +44 (0) 20 7520 1558 or email sarah.cranmer@goodenough.ac.uk