Anne and Caroline make it a winning double

This year saw the launch of two new awards – the ILM CiCLA High Achievement Award 2025 and the ILM Diploma High Achievement Award 2025.

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Both are designed to celebrate the hard work and dedication of those who have studied to increase their professional knowledge and, in turn, deliver benefits to the charities they work for.

The inaugural winners were announced at this year’s ILM Conference by Ashley Rowthorn, Executive Director, Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford, who congratulated them on their success.

Scoring an incredible 96% in her CiCLA results and recipient of the ILM CiCLA High Achievement Award 2025 was Anne Winterbottom, Legacy Case Manager at The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

And taking top honours in the Diploma results was Caroline Myers, Legacies Manager at Yorkshire Air Ambulance, who achieved 97% in her qualification. Caroline, who was unable to attend the conference, received her trophy for the ILM Diploma High Achievement Award 2025 separately.

Matthew Lagden, ILM CEO, said: “Huge congratulations to both Anne and Caroline for their commitment and their absolutely stunning results. To garner pass marks of 96% and 97% respectively is outstanding and we are in awe of their achievements – well done!”

Speaking afterwards, Anne said: “After working as a chartered accountant in private practice for 20+ years, I wanted to round off my knowledge of estate administration by studying for the Certificate in Charity Legacy Administration (CiCLA).

“I also wanted to lead by example. I was awarded a Certificate in Charity Legacy Administration with Distinction and am very proud to have been awarded the CiCLA Highest Achiever 2025 Award.

“Two of my team members are now studying for CiCLA. I have used my learnings to review and update our internal procedure manual to ensure that it is both up to date and in line with legislation and best practice.”

Declaring herself a “believer in lifelong learning”, a delighted Caroline said: “Having already achieved the CiCLA qualification in 2018, I appreciated how useful and valuable the ILM study courses are. After six years in a legacies administration role, the Diploma qualification appealed to me as felt it would help me develop the wider skills and charity sector knowledge needed to progress professionally.

“I felt very proud and privileged (to have won), especially knowing how amazing my peers are who were also studying. I know many of them from previous file collaborations, forums and peer support groups, where they have usually been the ones answering all my questions.”

She concluded: “Overall, the Diploma was an excellent learning experience and, thanks to support from my line manager, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to undertake it. I feel like I am a more rounded and self-aware colleague, legacy peer, and public-facing representative of my charity. The Diploma has certainly given me the skills and confidence to take on the next challenges in my legacies career.”

If you would like to learn more about the CiCLA or Diploma qualifications, please click below.