Devon Wildlife Trust joins legacy campaign
Veteran journalist and newsreader, Angela Rippon, will be joining The Wildlife Trusts in support of this year’s Remember A Charity Week (Mon 9 – Sun 15 Sept 2013).
As one of 140 charities taking part in a series of events around the UK, The Wildlife Trusts are urging people making a Will to take a moment to consider including a gift to charity.
Devon Wildlife Trust is asking supporters to think about leaving a gift in their Will to help wildlife.
The Trust’s Penny Mason said:
“Gifts in Wills are so important in allowing us to continue to protect our natural world and wildlife as we currently do. This Remember A Charity week, we’d like to ask everyone making or amending a Will to take a moment and think about leaving a gift in their Will to a Wildlife Trust, once they have looked after family and friends.”
For each of the 47 Wildlife Trusts across the UK, gifts in Wills are vital. They can make the difference between saving vital habitats for wildlife, from ancient woodland to wildflower meadows, and watching these beautiful and important landscapes vanish forever. People who love our natural world can help children learn and care about wildlife, protect species under threat, from the water vole to the red squirrel, and help Wildlife Trusts campaign to protect our natural world – all through a gift in their Will.
“I’ve supported a number of charities over my lifetime, and it’s something I want to continue to do as part of my legacy. Around 40,000 people will make or amend a Will this week alone, raising £40 million for good causes”, explains Angela.
“If just 6% more people included a gift to charity in their will, we could raise an additional £40m this week, providing essential funding to help charities to continue their good work.”
“Gifts in Wills are the foundation of many of Britain’s charities, creating almost £2 billion each year. Rob Cope, Director of Remember A Charity, added.
“Without this income, many charities simply would not exist and others would be forced to cut the vital services so many of us rely on.”
During Remember A Charity Week 150,000 chocolate bars will be handed out by charities including Shelter and Save the Children at over 1,500 charity shops nationwide, as way of encouraging people to take a moment to consider a charity in their Will.
The week will also see the launch of a humorous online video which can be viewed and shared via social media, depicting what can happen should you pick the wrong moment to think about including a charity in your Will, as well as a series of print adverts appearing nationally on 60,000 bus shelters. UK charities will also spreading the word on the importance of gifts in Wills across Facebook and Twitter on Tuesday 10 September.
Three quarters of Britons regularly give to charity in their lifetimes, yet only 6% include a charity in their Will. UK charities rely heavily on gifts in Wills: they help Wildlife Trusts act quickly to save important land for nature, six out of ten life boat launches are paid for by gifts in Wills, as is over a third of Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work.
For more information about how to leave a gift to charity in your will visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk.
