THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2021 more than the targeted 3.5 % return , and the prospects for improved philanthropic giving are also bright . As Chairman of the Development Committee and a member of the Investment Committee he has overseen these returns , to the tune of £ 12m last year alone that went into the bursary endowment . He himself was the recipient of a bursary , as the son of a Navy officer . But doesn ’ t Winchester have to do more to justify the huge privileges it enjoys — not least the significant tax break from charitable status , something incidentally that the Labour party currently wants to reverse . Is it enough ?
Ferguson is a former Chairman of the Courtauld Institute and knows the charitable status tax break covers more than just educational establishments , including a charitable foundation he runs with his wife , but he still believes the bursary programme is fit for the job : ‘ If we were just going to be a school of millionaires you wouldn ’ t need any bursaries … so the whole intention is to make sure that people from a wider background can come , because that ’ s healthy for the school .’
Cook ’ s House photo 1966
Cook ’ s House photo 1962
Or as he puts it , the school ’ s high fees can currently price out children of ‘ doctors , country solicitors and lots of others ’.
Getting the new boarding houses up and running will be a mammoth task over the next couple of years — ‘ I ’ ve seen the architect ’ s drawings and they are stunning ’ — but what of his own personal ambitions ? I ’ m asking all my interviewees what their own personal Everest is for 2022 .
Continuing to strengthen the bursary fund is one , but also : ‘ I have a family — three children who are themselves married with children in Tehran , San Francisco , and Houston , and seeing them has been difficult . So my one ambition is to get around and spend lots of time with all .’
Written by JAMIE ANGUS
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