New research from British Heart Foundation has found 43 per cent of Britons intend to leave money to charity in their Wills.

Just over half of the 2,000 survey respondents said having a personal link to a charity would be a key reason for leaving a gift in a Will, while 28 per cent said they would leave a gift to feel good about giving something back to society. Sixteen per cent said they believed it was important to leave donations to charities in Wills.

The survey showed 73 per cent of respondents got a ‘feel good factor’ from the act of giving time or money to charity, and 48 per cent agreed giving to charity gave them a ‘real feeling of wellbeing’. A quarter said giving to charity made them feel best about themselves as person.

UCLan School of Psychology senior lecturer Dr Gayle Brewer said giving time or money to help others will always be key to an overall sense of individual wellbeing.

“These positive feelings can only be extended by writing a Will that leaves a gift to charity.”

The study was commissioned by the BHF to mark the launch of its legacies campaign, which aims to inspire people to leave a gift in their Will to the charity in order to fund research to fight heart disease.

It found 62 per cent of respondents ‘genuinely wanted to help’ by donating money to charity throughout their lives. Over 9 per cent pointed towards a feeling of guilt as being a key motivator to give to charitable causes, while 16 per cent said donating to good causes made them feel good about themselves.

Nearly a third of respondents reported donating money every month to charity, while 10 per cent said they never donate to good causes. The average donation per month was £16.58.

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