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Foundation
New family of bequestors
The last edition of the Lion featured the Rekaris family who joined our bequest society; they have been recently joined by John-Paul Daggian (OW1993), his partner Stuart Law (OW1996), sister Athena Johnson (nee Daggian) (OW1996) and Alex Law (OW1994). We were delighted to welcome Alex back to Wesley in the senior role of College Head of Admissions and Athena and her husband Brad as Wesley parents.
John-Paul reflects on his time at the College and what motivated him, his partner Stuart and their family to leave a bequest to Wesley in their Wills:
Regardless of a child’s parents, their upbringing belongs to the community, or so says the oft-quoted African proverb: ‘Omwana ni wa bhone - It takes a village to raise a child.’ Not all of us are blessed with children. That doesn’t make us any less responsible for nurturing their interests, encouraging their growth and being strong role models and mentors.
Our ‘Wesley village life’ was full and active. We enjoyed access to unparalleled educational resources, exceptional facilities, motivational teachers and a complete spectrum of extracurricular opportunities. From these experiences we learnt much.
Our village life would not have been complete without the support and affection of our parents and, extraordinarily, the parents of our friends. We all remember getting a lift home from a mate’s mum, after school snacks at a friend’s house, getting told off for being too loud during what was meant to be a home study session, or being crammed into the back seat, ferried to and from drama rehearsals and Saturday sport commitments. From these experiences we grew.
For us, a bequest to Wesley is a way we choose to participate without having children enrolled. We love being uncles; we get to be the cool ‘parents’ without the responsibility. Now that my sister Athena Johnson and her husband Brad have had their son, our nephew Jacques, commenced at Wesley this year, and soon to be followed by Alexander and Zoe, it allows us to reconnect to the College in new ways.
As the fun uncles, we look forward to participating in the Wesley village life of Jacques, his siblings and their friends.
The Wesley Foundation is most grateful for the support of the Daggian and Law families for remembering the College in their Wills. It’s wonderful to see this commitment from younger members of our College community as part of an increasing awareness of this form of philanthropy.