As a campaign called ‘Legacy 10’ is launched to encourage people to support charities in their wills, official figures compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) show that the amount of legacy income reported by the 11,000 biggest charities in their most recent annual returns is £2.1 billion. This is a real terms increase of 3% on September 2010 but represents just 13.49% of all voluntary income received by these charities.

The Chancellor announced in his last Budget that from April 2012 anyone donating at least 10% of their wealth in their will to charity, will see their tax burden on their remaining taxable estate reduced from 40 to 36%.

Stephanie Moss, Legacy Manager at the CAF said:

“Contrary to what many people believe most of us don’t leave a charitable legacy. Legacy giving isn’t complicated and after you have looked after your family and friends it’s a great way to make a difference.”