Remember A Charity Week launches to highlight importance of legacy giving

More than 200 charities and legal experts are taking part in Remember A Charity Week, which launches today and aims to raise awareness of the role of legacy giving in supporting good causes.

The annual week of activity (5- 11 September) includes a series of 1970s TV science show inspire digital media campaign hosted by former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis. These aim to answer common questions from the public around wills.

According to charity consortium Remember a Charity, which is leading the campaign, gifts in wills raise more than £3bn in good causes annually.

This year’s campaign also includes a Will You campaign video being promoted by member charities to show the impact legacy gifts have on the work of charities.

In addition, the campaign is being fronted by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman for the fifth year in a row.

It's #RememberACharityWeek! 🎉 We can't wait to see the charity sector shout loud about legacies this week. Get involved by sharing our campaign video 👇 pic.twitter.com/Yn4RuN9kqz
— Remember A Charity (@RememberCharity) September 5, 2022

“Remember A Charity Week is a fantastic opportunity for the sector to come together and celebrate the impact of gifts in Wills,” said Remember a Charity director Lucinda Frostick.

“The nation’s appetite for legacy giving continues to grow, and this income will be all the more important in the years ahead. But there’s still work to do, and this year’s campaign is a great opportunity to shine a light on legacies and inspire more people to consider leaving a gift in their Will to grow the legacy market. Together we can do what no charity can do alone.”

Figures released by consultancy Legacy Foresight earlier this summer suggest that a backlog in the administration of wills and legacy giving caused by the Covid pandemic is easing.

Legacy Foresight found that legacy income grew by 15% over the 12 months to March this year.

Also this summer separate research by Smee & Ford found that residents of South of England seaside towns and cities are among the most likely to leave a gift to a good cause in their will.

Evidence is also emerging, from creative agency WPNC, that an increasing number of millennials and generation X are looking to include a gift to a charity in their will.