Will you or won’t you?

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Leading medical research charity reminds people to think about their wills during Remember a Charity Week this September

During Remember a Charity Week (17-23 September) leading medical research charity Arthritis Research UK is reminding the British public of the importance leaving a gift in your will.

75 per cent of us regularly give to charity but only seven per cent leave legacies. Only a four per cent increase would raise a further £1 billion for charities in the UK alone.

A recent report by the Remember a Charity consortium also revealed that only half of the UK population has made a will and one in three of those are out of date. 

Gifts in wills are a vital source of income for many charities like Arthritis Research UK – in fact, they provide over half of the charity’s funding, making it the lifeblood of the work they do.

Arthritis affects one in six people, including 15,000 children, and it is the biggest cause of pain and disability in the UK. Gifts left in wills allow Arthritis Research UK to continue their life-changing work and stop arthritis from stealing the quality of people’s lives.

Gifts in wills are often directly linked to wealth but during Remember a Charity Week Arthritis Research UK CEO Dr Liam O’Toole stresses that you don’t need to be a wealthy individual with a huge estate to remember a charity.

“Once you have looked after your loved ones in your will, even a small gift to a charity can make a huge difference. Thanks to the legacies we have received over the past 75 years, our pioneering research has included the discovery of anti-TNF drugs; development of longer lasting implants and surgical techniques in joint replacement surgery; gout control and fatal forms of arthritis made treatable.

With the help of gifts in wills, our innovative research projects can continue to change the lives of people with debilitating arthritis in the UK.”

Arthritis Research UK supporter Ellen Phillips told how she has lived with arthritis over 40 years. “I have decided to leave a gift in my will to Arthritis Research UK as I can see the advancements being made in research and I want to make sure the vital research can continue and benefit people after I’m gone. It would be very comforting to know that young people don’t have to go through what I did.”

Arthritis Research UK has a wealth of information available on legacy giving. Visit www.arthritisresearchuk.org or call 0207 3072232 to find how easy it is to leave a gift in your will as well as details of the activities taking place during Remember a Charity Week.