The stark truth is that almost all of us will have some experience, directly or indirectly, with cancer during our lives. Cancer Research UK statistics show us that nearly one in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with some form of the disease in their lifetime.
But while cancer remains one of the biggest public health challenges we face, slowly but surely, we are beating it together. With the help of many generous supporters, Cancer Research UK has funded scientists to uncover new insights into how cancer develops as well as ways of targeting its vulnerabilities.
Pledging a gift in your will is a way to contribute to the discoveries of tomorrow – a commitment now which will make a real difference to the future of the charity’s groundbreaking work. Thanks partly to the generosity of those who pledge gifts in their wills, Cancer Research UK has played a role in developing around half of the world’s essential cancer drugs and helped to save countless lives.
Over the past 50 years, such breakthroughs have helped double cancer survival in the UK – meaning that half of all people diagnosed now survive their disease for 10 years or more. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of change, funding research into early diagnosis and helping to develop better treatments for the disease.
So, what can you do today to save lives tomorrow? Gifts in wills fund one-third of Cancer Research UK’s work and are vital to accelerating progress in the field. These legacy commitments enable it to plan for the future, allowing the charity to commit to the large-scale, long-term research projects that yield its biggest breakthroughs.
Pledging gifts in wills enables Cancer Research UK to invest in further scientific research – with the potential to make the biggest difference to future generations in the UK and around the world.
Types of gifts
There are a whole variety of ways through which people decide to pledge gifts to Cancer Research UK in their wills, and the charity is grateful for every piece of support they receive. To get qualified advice on how to leave a gift in your will, it is important that you speak to a solicitor, but the four major categories of gifts include:
1 A residuary gift, which is when someone chooses to leave a specific share of their estate to charity. It means that after you have provided for your loved ones, you can leave some of the remaining share to support a cause that particularly matters to you. Pledging residuary gifts to charity can also be a way of reducing the amount of inheritance tax that the executors of your will may have to pay on your estate.
Currently, inheritance tax stands at 40% on an estate worth more than £325,000 (£500,000 if you leave your home to children or grandchildren), and one way of reducing this bill is to leave at least 10% of the estate to a charity, which can mean you qualify for a reduced rate of tax.
2 A pecuniary or cash gift, which is when an exact sum of money is left.
3 A specific gift, which is the gift of a particular asset or assets to a named beneficiary. (Over the years, Cancer Research UK has been pledged specific gifts that have included antique jewellery, property and shares.)
4 A gift in trust, which enables you to leave a gift for a loved one to use over a specified number of years – a common means of transferring inheritance on to the next generation. But if you choose, you can stipulate that the gift is subsequently passed on to a charity once the time period has ended.
It is also possible to personalise your gift if, for example, you want to ensure that your legacy is used to fund research into a specific form of cancer. Leaving a gift in your will is a big decision and one that takes time and careful consideration. Writing a will can feel like a huge task, but Cancer Research UK has a free Gifts in Wills Guide, which contains all the information you need to help navigate your decision and ensure your wishes are taken care of.
The power of legacy giving
Legacy giving is ultimately something one does to ensure that future generations will all benefit from the many discoveries that researchers are continuing to make in the fight against cancer.
As just one example, gifts in wills have contributed to increasing our understanding of lung cancer, the third most common cancer in the UK, bringing us one step closer to beating this disease. Thanks in part to these pledges, Cancer Research UK was able to commit more than £10m towards a groundbreaking study called TRACERx, which is tracking the evolution of lung cancer, as well as other cancers, over time. Alongside this, legacy gifts have enabled funding for transformative discoveries leading to the development of various drugs that have had a significant impact on treating lung cancer.
Ultimately it is these long-term investments that can help change the outcomes of some of the most difficult to treat cancers. Leaving a gift in your will is a way for your wishes to be looked after, and to drive progress that can change the future.
Anyone can pledge a gift in their will. Your pledge could help beat cancer for future generations. For more information, and to find out how your legacy could create a future free from the fear of cancer, visit cruk.org/giftsinwills
