It is the generosity of others that enables Ben Uri to continue its work. We are a registered charity and art museum, not a business, so we make no profit from our collection or any of the work that we do.
Why your gift is important
A legacy gift from you will help Ben Uri bring art to everyone through its work, which includes:
- Expanding and researching the Ben Uri Collection, the most distinguished body of work by artists of European Jewish descent in the world.
- Curating and touring our exhibitions and associated symposia and conferences.
- Offering a range of local and national education and community projects.
- Creating our Art as Therapy project for the elderly and projects for youths with behavioural and addiction problems.
- Proudly representing the Jewish community and artistic cultural heritage in the centre of Britain’s mainstream cultural mosaic.
All of our work combined can impact tens of thousands of adults and young people across the UK and abroad.
A legacy to Ben Uri
Your legacy to Ben Uri means we can continue to build this important and distinctive art museum, to develop and build our collection and to offer exciting and informative exhibitions and events. Your gift will help us to serve the wider community through our educational resources and community outreach services.
Importantly, by remembering Ben Uri in your will you will be creating a gift for everyone, because it helps us to bring the work of important artists of Jewish descent to the widest possible audience.
Types of legacy
We know your family and friends always come first, but a legacy donation does not have to affect your loved ones. For instance, once other gifts have been allocated to those who are dear to you, you may be able to leave Ben Uri a fixed sum (known as a 'pecuniary legacy') or gift part or all of the remainder of your estate (known as a 'residuary legacy').
There are other types of legacy gifts that you may wish to consider such as a reversionary bequest, where you choose to leave a legacy to a relative or friend (life tenant) so they can benefit from it during their lifetime. For example, this can be in the form of assets or the interest on a trust fund (life interest). After the life tenant's death, the gift is passed on as a legacy to Ben Uri.
Legacy gifts of artworks: new tax breaks coming to the UK
Ben Uri would also be delighted to discuss with you a bequest of personal possessions such as works of art that you feel would be important to our collection (known as a specific bequest). This can be arranged to maximise tax benefits either in your lifetime or as a bequest.
Tax benefits of a legacy
There are tax benefits associated with legacy donations to charities such as Ben Uri. For instance, the value of a bequest is deducted from your estate before Inheritance Tax, which lowers the amount of tax payable on the estate.
You can find out more about the tax benefits of legacy gifts to charities from a professional advisor, a solicitor or from the HMRC website.
Changing your will now
If you already have a will but would like to make a gift to Ben Uri now, you can use a codicil to make changes. This document makes it easy to amend an existing will, such as offering a gift to Ben Uri, without invalidating it. A solicitor will help you do this.
Help Ben Uri to continue
Thank you for thinking about leaving Ben Uri a legacy. If you wish to explore legacy donations to Ben Uri, please contact us.
Jewish Legacy
Ben Uri supports the Jewish Legacy campaign, which is a cross communal initiative made up of 39 Jewish charities, all of whom are committed to increasing awareness about the importance of leaving a charitable legacy. Whilst 80% of the community give to charity while alive, only 1 in 4 people currently leave a charitable legacy in their Will.
Ben Uri
is a partner of
History of Ben Uri
Ben Uri is nearly a century old. It was founded in 1915, in Gradel's restaurant in Whitechapel, in the East End of London. The name echoes that of the legendary biblical craftsman who created the tabernacle in the Temple of Jerusalem.
The histories of Ben Uri and that of 20th century British art are intertwined; the blossoming of the immigrant generations of Jewish artists was mirrored by the development of modern painting in Britain. It was immigrant Jewish artists who founded Ben Uri and made a significant contribution to its development over its nearly 100 years.
Although Ben Uri’s roots are in the East End of London, the winds of change have taken it on a journey across London in search of a permanent home. From Bloomsbury, through to Soho and now to a temporary location in north London, Ben Uri is still looking for a home. Read more about Ben Uri's history.