The Francis Ingham Legacy Fund at St. Bede’s College

Overview:

The Francis Ingham Legacy Fund at St. Bede’s College in Manchester, U.K., was established in March 2024 by an anonymous donor, with matching funds also pledged to encourage additional giving by others, to benefit students who struggle with lingering ill-effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Establishment of this Fund marks the one-year anniversary of Francis Ingham’s death, and it seeks to honor Francis’ life as a loyal St. Bede’s College alumnus.

The Fund also honors St. Bede’s own legacy of educating young people of high potential – including those of diverse, disadvantaged, and even troubled backgrounds – with respect, dignity, and compassion… hallmarks of St. Bede’s College.

These qualities underscored Francis Ingham’s own experience while a student at St. Bede’s College some 35 years ago. Administrators, faculty, and staff showed consistent support, kindness, and encouragement toward Francis while he attended St. Bede’s, during an otherwise dark chapter of his life. A gifted individual, Francis ultimately commenced and completed his studies at Oxford University, thanks to the preparation and support provided by St. Bede’s College.

Decades later, Francis credited his time at St. Bede’s College as life-changing – even as a life-saving experience – given specific circumstances of his youth in which leadership of St. Bede’s intervened on his behalf.

Purpose:

This fund – named The Francis Ingham Legacy Fund – is intended to be housed at St. Bede’s College within a larger, interconnected set of funds currently totaling approximately £500,000, already established in recent years by separate benefactors of St. Bede’s College. This larger collection of funds provides bursaries to children of underprivileged / disadvantaged backgrounds to attend St. Bede’s College, in pursuit of academic success.

Working within this pre-existing, funded mission of helping children who are economically disadvantaged, The Francis Ingham Legacy Fund will focus its remit toward a specific subset of underprivileged students, who – as an additional factor compounding their already challenged status – also face documented incidents of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

ACEs can include childhood trauma resulting from abuse, neglect, abandonment, or other scenarios rendering serious psychological and emotional harm, with potential for lifelong ill-effects.

Within its available capacity, The Francis Ingham Legacy Fund will specifically help underwrite disadvantaged St. Bede’s students’ access to professional counseling interventions and psychological / emotional support offerings appropriate to their needs, as deemed by qualified staff.

Funded services for these children are envisaged to help counsel and equip students suffering from ACEs with an ability to process their unique circumstances. In so doing, students can develop healthier coping skills to mitigate life-long effects of trauma. The larger aim is to help students avoid short-term or long-term forms of dangerous self-harm resulting from unresolved or untreated trauma tied to ACEs.

Background of Francis Ingham

The late Francis Ingham (22 December, 1975 – 16 March, 2023) was a devoted St. Bede’s College alumnus, Oxford University (Wadham College) alumnus, and a father of four children, whom he dearly loved.

Francis’ own early life and childhood were atypical of someone who later would become an executive and global leader in his field. Having grown up in a troubled home sited in local government-funded housing and with early childhood years of disjointed school attendance, Francis endured serious childhood trauma… the repercussions of which followed him for the remainder of his life.

Francis’ public recollections of his childhood years included comments about St. Bede’s College during an interview in 2017 with The PRmoment Podcast, hosted by Francis’ friend and colleague, Ben Smith (who later would serve as a eulogist at Francis’ funeral).

During this interview, Francis said:

“St. Bede’s was a very kind, benign school to me. They took me back, without paying any school fees. They pushed me all the way through Sixth Form. In fact, the Headmaster of the school subsidized me. Sometimes when people make a political point for a moment… sometimes when people bash private schools and their charitable status and so on, I say they probably ought to look at my old school, which made a loss on me, purely because it thought it was the right thing to do. And with their support, I went to Oxford.” (Source: The PRmoment podcast with the PRCA's Francis Ingham)

Following his degree from Oxford and his early roles with other organizations, Francis Ingham served for 15 years as director general of the London-based Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) – the largest global PR association in the world. He concurrently served as CEO of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), composed of thousands of PR agencies and consulting practices globally.

Described upon his passing as “a giant of the PR family,” Francis was a steadfast friend and trusted ally to countless colleagues across the industry as well as to many respected leaders in government, commerce, not-for-profit sectors, and other diverse walks of life. Francis’ career legacy in service to the global public relations industry will be felt positively for decades to come.

Luke 9:47-48 (RSVCE)

47 But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side,

48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”