Fulham Man Writes His Will at 10,000 Feet
Skydiving Keith Allen-Jones leaves legacy to favourite charity
Fulham Based Keith Allen-Jones took to the skies and whilst at 10,000 feet re-signed his will, alongside five other pensioners, to leave a legacy for his favourite charity before skydiving to safety.
Keith Allen-Jones
The jump was part of Remember A Charity in your Will Week, the annual awareness drive designed to encourage more people to consider leaving a gift to charity in their Will. This year it takes place between 7th – 13th September.
Following its most successful year to date in 2014, this is the sixth year of the campaign, which aims to make legacy giving a social norm. Last year saw the campaign grow to over 150 member charities and receive the backing of some of the UK's biggest businesses and partners, such as The Co-operative and the Cabinet Office and its partners including Legal & General and the Law Society.
Many of the member charities will also be running their own activities throughout the campaign, raising the profile of legacies across the UK. Hundreds of members' charity shops will be dedicating window displays to the campaign and interacting with people via branded ‘Living Legend’ merchandise to further generate awareness and engagement with consumers.
The campaign has achieved notable success over the years, with the percentage of people leaving a legacy in their Will increasing from 5.1% in 2000 – the year Remember A Charity was formed - to 7.3% in 2013.
The Will Write Stuff
Three quarters of Britons regularly give to charity in their lifetimes, yet only 7.3% currently include a charity when writing a Will. Nevertheless gifts in Wills are still the foundation of many of Britain’s charities, creating more than £2 billion each year, the equivalent of 19 Comic Reliefs. Without this income, many charities would simply not exist and others would have to cut crucial services.
Rob Cope, director of Remember A Charity, said: "Remember A Charity Week has grown year-on-year and we hope 2015 sees our message continue to reach new audiences.
"Legacy income is currently worth more than £2 billion a year in the UK. If we can grow the sector by just 4%, we could potentially raise an extra £1 billion for UK charities. That’s why our mission is to help people realise what a legendary act leaving a gift to charity is and the scale of difference it can make to some of our favourite good causes. "
September 9, 2015