Remember A Charity Week launches with ‘Be Remembered’ campaign & celeb support
Melanie May | 11 September 2023 | News
This year’s Remember A Charity Week has launched today (11-17 September) with a new ‘Be Remembered’ campaign and the support of Olympian Fatima Whitbread.
The campaign (with creative by Atomic London), aims to encourage the public to open up conversations about how they wish to be remembered and to consider leaving a gift to charity in their Will. It will be airing across digital and social, using both organic and paid media.
Consumer polling of 2000 UK adults released to coincide with the week reveals that three in five (61%) UK adults and more than four in ten (46%) of the over 40s have not yet written a Will. However, many of those surveyed have a strong sense of how they wish to be remembered, with half of the public wanting to be remembered for their role in their family (52%) and over a third (34%) saying they wish to leave the world a better place.
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Two fifths (40%) of UK adults say they would be happy to leave a gift to charity after taking care of loved ones and 46% say they would feel proud if a loved one left a donation to charity in their Will. The polling also found that 62% recognise that it’s not necessary to be wealthy to leave a gift to charity in your Will and that even a small gift can make a difference.
This year’s campaign
This year’s Remember A Charity Week focuses on the distinctive characteristics that people remember about loved ones with the ‘Be remembered’ for campaign celebrating special stories, funny moments, and quirky hobbies, and using them as a springboard to open up conversations and legacy consideration.
Fatima Whitbread will be championing the legacy message throughout the week. Commenting, she said:
“It’s an honour to work with Remember A Charity and to join them and so many crucial charities in raising awareness of the importance of gifts in Wills to good causes across the UK.
“On top of the legacy I’ve shaped as an Olympian, I hope to be remembered for the causes I support. Having lived in the care of children’s homes for the first 14 years of my life, I know first-hand the transformative impact that charities can have on people’s lives and work closely with Action for Children to ensure young people’s voices are heard.
“I wish to be remembered for the work I do in helping young people find loving and secure foster homes, and encourage you to make time to consider your legacy, and what you would want your Will to say about you.”
Remember A Charity Week brings together around 200 member charities and the campaign’s network of over 850 solicitor firms and Will-writers, legal partners and government to encourage everyone to consider leaving a gift to their favourite charities in their Will, alongside gifts for family and friends.
Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, said:
“Remember A Charity Week is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the phenomenal impact of gifts in Wills on charities and charitable services across the country. With this year’s Be Remembered campaign and a broad network of legacy advocates – from solicitors and Will-writing partners to charities, trade bodies and government – we’re hoping to spark conversation about what it is we all want to be remembered for and to inspire even more people to leave a gift in their Will.
“Charities can use the Week as a platform to engage with supporters and the giving public to share their legacy message. And it’s an ideal opportunity to get their whole organisation’s support and buy-in for legacies, championing the legacy message internally.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.