Cambridge-based national charity, the Alzheimer?s Research Trust (ART) is urging people to make a New Year?s resolution worth keeping, by remembering a charity in their Will. The UK?s leading dementia research charity, kicked off 2007 in style by signing up to join Remember A Charity – the biggest-ever public awareness campaign promoting the simple idea that we can all leave the world a better place by including a charity in our will.
Many charitable activities would not exist without money left in wills. Yet only 5% of people actually provide for them in this way. The tragedy is that while the number of people making charitable wills remains low, the number of people relying on them continues to increase. The result is that funds available from legacies are being split between ever more charities. The aim of Remember A Charity is to explain how easy it is to help your favourite charity through a donation in your will.
The UK population is one of the most charitable in the world. During our lifetime, over 67% of us support charities with cash, time and dedication but few of us think of charities when we write our wills. Yet taking the time to donate in your will can literally mean the difference between life and death for many charities. Not only that, it can also bring you tax benefits if your estate is worth more than the inheritance tax threshold of ?275,000.
At present donations in wills generate ?1.3 billion each year and are the largest source of voluntary income for charities. If every household caught by IHT each year were to pledge ?3,000 in their will, this would rise to nearly ?100 million in additional income which could transform the services charities are able to provide.