# Government supports Remember A Charity in Your Will Week

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/12/government-supports-remember-charity-will-week/
- Published: 2016-09-12T10:46:42+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Government is supporting this year’s Remember A Charity in Your Will Week,
which aims to raise the importance of charitable gifts in Wills.**

The week, which runs from 12-18 September 2016, is supported by HM Treasury, the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Scottish Government and the 
Law Society.

Legacy giving is essential to many charities. Worth an estimated £2.5 billion, according
to Legacy Foresight, legacy giving is the largest single source of voluntary income
int he UK. It benefits almost 10,000 charities each year.

## Advertisement

But it could raise substantially more if more people included a legacy in their 
Will, after providing for family. If just a further **4%** of the public were to
include a charity in their Will, this would be worth an estimated **£1 billion**
to good causes across the country.

Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society at the Department for Culture, Media and 
Sport (DCMS), said:

> “Legacy giving has a fine history in our country and is a vital part of charities’
> income. Remember A Charity Week will help make considering legacy giving an integral
> part of the Will-writing process and benefit a huge number of good causes, helping
> make Britain a country that works for everyone.”

HM Treasury is using social media to support the public awareness campaign.

> Today marks the start of Remember A Charity in your Will Week. Find out more [#mywisdom](https://twitter.com/hashtag/mywisdom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> here [https://t.co/tlhOtbrQEX](https://t.co/tlhOtbrQEX) [pic.twitter.com/YHhdMJIbOs](https://t.co/YHhdMJIbOs)
> — HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) [September 12, 2016](https://twitter.com/hmtreasury/status/775208634213097472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## #MyWisdom

The theme for this year’s Remember A Charity in your Will Week is **#MyWisdom**,
in which members of the public are invited to pass on something legendary, tweeting
or sharing their advice for future generations using the #MyWisdom hashtag. They
are also encouraged to remember a charity in their Will.

Member charities are hosting their own activities to raise awareness of Remember
A Charity Week across the UK. These include regional legacy roadshows, promotion
in hundreds of charity shops, and the use of branded merchandise.

## Involving solicitors

Government Ministers, Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society, and Annabelle Ewing
MSP, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs have jointly written to 8,000
solicitors in England, Wales and Scotland, encouraging them to join over 1,000 other
Campaign Supporters in highlighting the opportunity of leaving a gift to charity
to their clients.
 

## Aardman Animations film

 
This year Remember A Charity, the 170-strong coalition of charities who promote
legacy giving, is using a new short film by Aardman Animations Ltd, creators of 
Wallace and Gromit, to promote the campaign. It showcases donors’ inspirational 
words for future generations.

In addition, campaign posters are on display at many of the UK’s service stations
and on the London Underground.

## Online quote generator

![Remember A Charity Week's online quote generator](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2016/09/remember-a-charity-quote-generator-2016.jpg)

_Remember A Charity Week’s online quote generator_

On social media, celebrities, charity supporters and the wider public are being
encouraged to use the campaign’s [online quote generator](http://www.mywisdom.co.uk/#/form/profile)
and share their words of wisdom with others.

The campaign launches with over 500 quotes have been from charity supporters and
celebrities, including Emma Thompson, Lord Sugar, Rufus Hound, Gary Lineker and 
Bill Bryson.

![Some #mywisdom quotes for Remember a Charity Week](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2016/09/remember-a-charity-quotes-2016.jpg)

_Words of wisdom from well-known charity supporters._

Rob Cope, director of [Remember A Charity](http://www.rememberacharity.org.uk),
commented:

> “This year’s campaign focuses on encouraging others to pass on their wisdom and
> to think about their legacy for future generations. We hope it will help inspire
> potential legacy supporters and achieve our goal of making legacy giving a social
> norm. We are grateful to Government and all our campaign supporters who are playing
> such a key role in promoting charitable legacies.”

He added:

> “Remember A Charity Week is a great opportunity for everyone to come together 
> and focus on the immense impact that gifts in Wills have on charities and their
> beneficiaries”.

> ✒📜To start off [@RememberCharity](https://twitter.com/RememberCharity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> in your Will Week 2016 there is a super supplement in the Saturday Herald. [pic.twitter.com/aFA6GNLJIL](https://t.co/aFA6GNLJIL)
> — Elliot & Company WS (@Elliot_and_Co) [September 10, 2016](https://twitter.com/Elliot_and_Co/status/774671295942385665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

> Life is short – make it sweet, make it meaningful, be kind – [#mywisdom](https://twitter.com/hashtag/mywisdom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> for [@RememberCharity](https://twitter.com/RememberCharity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/VZ5xcuB9AO](https://t.co/VZ5xcuB9AO)
> — Liz Tait 💙 (@liztait) [September 9, 2016](https://twitter.com/liztait/status/774331144405909504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

## Legacy legends

Meet some legacy legends in our four-part series:

 * [Legacy legends 1](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/08/15/inspiration-four-fantastic-legacy-legends/)
 * [Legacy legends 2](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/08/22/inspiration-four-fantastic-legacy-legends-part-two/)
 * [Legacy legends 3](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/02/inspiration-four-fantastic-legacy-legends-part-three/)
 * [Legacy legends 4](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/05/inspiration-four-fantastic-legacy-legends-part-four/)