The Hunter Children’s Research Foundation (HCRF) has received its largest gift in 20 years, a bequest from a Victorian woman whom they never met.

The Hunter Children’s Research Foundation (HCRF) has received its largest gift in 20 years, a bequest from a Victorian woman whom they never met.

Margaret Lang, or “Peggy” as she liked to be called, was unmarried but left instructions in her Will about her wish to benefit a charity conducting medical research into children’s illnesses.

This is how HCRF came to be the sole beneficiary of Peggy’s estate, which included a monetary donation, shares and a parcel of land on French Island in Victoria that is now for sale.

It will enable HCRF to establish its first ever Fellowship for paediatric research.

It adds to the funding pool of over $1.3 million raised by HCRF since 1996, supporting everything from asthma to ear infections, epilepsy and diabetes.

Last year’s research awards went to asthma, the growth disorder Prader-Willi Syndrome and functional abdominal pain.