The Great Map of Willanthropy launches today showcasing the impact of charitable gifts in Wills across the UK.
The Almshouse Association celebrates the generosity of local supporters this Remember a Charity Week.
This Remember A Charity Week (09-15 September 2024), The Almshouse Association is coming together with almost 200 charities, hundreds of legal firms and partners to celebrate the phenomenal impact of gifts in Wills (Willanthropy*) in funding vital charitable services for future generations.
Charities and charitable services enabled through gifts in Wills are showcased on the Great Map of Willanthropy, launched this week.
Raising £4 billion for good causes across the UK each year, charitable gifts in Wills have never been more needed or more valued, according to charity consortium Remember A Charity. A record number of people donated from their Wills in 2023 – over 38,000 in England and Wales alone – and almost 11,000 charities and community-based organisations were named in those Wills[1].
Funding the future of charitable and community services across the UK, gifts in Wills can enable organisations like The Almshouse Association to continue supporting member almshouse charities to run their almshouses well and provide safe and warm homes for 36,000 people in need, as well as protect these national heritage buildings.
The Great Map of Willanthropy shines a spotlight on local charitable services up and down the country and overseas. This interactive map enables the public to search for good causes by area and to consider if they can support future generations by remembering a charity alongside their loved ones in their Will.
Figures released to coincide with Remember A Charity Week show that public appetite for donating from a Will is high, with over a third (35%) of UK adults[2] saying they are likely to give in this way, joining a growing generation of ’Willanthropists’ who hope to leave the world a better place.
Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, adds:
“These are incredibly challenging times for UK charities and, in this environment, charitable gifts in Wills have never been more needed or more valued. Donating in this way can be such an empowering and inspiring way to support your favourite charity. No matter whether a gift is large or small, everyone who remembers a charity in their Will can help to shape the future of the world they leave behind.”
*Willanthropy is the act of giving to charity from your Will
[1] Smee & Ford Legacy Trends Report 2024
[2] Censuswide, poll of 2004 UK adults, Jan/Feb 2024
posted 11 September 2024