Largest ever cross-charity campaign promotes legacy giving
Howard Lake | 14 September 2010 | News
Over 140 UK charities have marked the start of Remember A Charity Week, which aims to highlight the importance of gifts left to charity in wills. The Remember A Charity consortium claim that this is “the UK’s largest ever cross-charity campaign”
Charitable donations in wills are generate nearly £2 billion for UK charities each year, “the equivalent of 25 Comic Reliefs”. Yet even though 74% of people regularly support a charity in their lifetime, the Legacy Market Audit Report 2010 by Legacy Foresight, which was launched yesterday, has found that only 7% of people who have written a will include a gift to charity.
Remember A Charity Week runs from 13 to 19 September and features ‘Legacies Through A Lens’, a photographic exhibition in the OXO Gallery, London. The exhibition’s photos, many of which include or have been taken by charities’ celebrity supporters (from Dame Judi Dench, Mario Testino and Gordon Ramsay to Timothy Spall and Alexandra Burke) represent what the money from gifts in wills makes possible for charities. The exhibition is open to the public during the week.
Charities up and down the country are also organising activities throughout the week. The Salvation Army will be raising awareness through its local churches and centres across the country, as will The Wildlife Trusts at its nature reserves, visitor centres and offices up and down the UK. The RNLI will be holding a live online Q&A session on Twitter on Friday 17 September, with the help of solicitors who have volunteered their time and knowledge to answer questions about writing a will and there will be a gathering of supporters at The Great North Run.
Hundreds of charity shops are also promoting Remember A Charity week through their window displays and by giving away branded tea bags with each transaction to encourage people to contemplate leaving a gift to charity in their wills.
Stephen George, Chair of Remember A Charity, said: “Many people in the UK don’t realise that they can give money to charities in this way. But the truth is, after looking after family and friends, a small share of whatever is left can make a real difference to charities and the invaluable work they do.”
www.rememberacharity.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.