Donations & Bequests

The Pompey History Society is a charitable organisation preserving and conserving the history and the archive of Portsmouth FC. We are always willing to receive donations of items and bequests from fans. Our collections' policy is to aim to have, if at all possible, at least two of every item in the archive, saved in different places. Items donated, which we need for the archive, will be stored and the provenance of each item recorded and acknowledged for exhibition purposes. Our ultimate goal is to set up our own museum once a suitable location can be found. A good example of where items may be exhibited currently is a donation by Bob Andrews, a signed photo of the 1939 FA Cup winning squad that takes pride of place next to the FA Cup Trophy itself in the clubs boardroom trophy cabinet. Items surplus to the society's requirements may be sold, where possible to other fans, to raise funds for the society, to enable it to continue its work. To contact us for details of how to make a donation or bequest of items, contact: donations@pompeyhistorysociety.org

At present, there are tax advantages for estates from gifts to charities. The Pompey History Society is a registered charity and a gift to us - at the time of writing - is free from inheritance tax (IHT), which is charged at 40% on any estate worth more than £325,000 (subject of course to rules, exemptions and allowances which can be found on the governments website). But if you leave 10% or more of your net estate to charity, you will benefit from a lower inheritance tax rate of 36%. This means, in some scenarios, donating to the History Society could actually lower an IHT bill, which could mean you have a bit more to leave to your beneficiaries overall. However, this depends on how much your estate is worth in the first place, as well as the size of your donation. Please always seek professional advice before gifting to any charity for the purposes of reducing inheritance tax. 

A bequest to the society can be simply made by adding suitable words into a will, such as “I leave x (with the item/s described or the amount of money in words and figures) to the Pompey History Society Registered Charity Number 1201687  (England and Wales) c/o Fratton Park Portsmouth PO4 0PH to be applied for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or the proper officer for the time being of The Pompey History Society shall be a complete discharge to my executors”. Although we don’t envisage making any changes to the Society at present, wills are usually made many years in advance so it is helpful but not essential to include a general clause in the will about any donation to a charity that states ‘If at my death any charity named as a beneficiary in this Will or any Codicil hereto has changed its name or amalgamated with or transferred its assets to another body then my Executors shall give effect to any gift as if it had been made to the body in its changed name or to the body which results from such amalgamation or to which the transfer has been made.’ As with the writing of any part of a will it is normally good to get legal advice to make sure that the will is unambiguous and if you want the Society to use your gift to fund a specific service or area of our research please discuss this with us in advance so we can make sure it is feasible and include suitable instructions in the will after the description of the item. And as ever do think carefully about whether your donation could create rifts within the family. 

In addition, the society is of course happy to receive cash donations or bequests. To do so, send cheques payable to 'Pompey History Society' to The Treasurer, Pompey History Society, c/o Fratton Park, Portsmouth PO4 0PH or make a BACS transfer to the following account:

Name: Pompey History Society

Sort Code: 30-98-90

Account No: 16986368

The following individuals or organisations have donated or bequeathed items to the society's archive, for which we are very grateful: 

If you feel you have donated an item to the society, but your name doesn't appear above, please email chair@pompeyhistorysociety.org with full details so we can check our records.