Remember a Charity Week - Michael Fish heads up the campaign

We've been busy this week with all the preparations for ‘Remember A Charity' week, which started this Saturday.

Remember A Charity is a group of 140 of the UK's favourite charities, working together to encourage more people to consider leaving a charitable gift in their Will, once they've looked after their family and friends.

This year Michael Fish is heading up the campaign, publicising how unpredictable life can be and how making a Will is all part of being prepared. Having famously assured the nation back in 1987 that there was no hurricane on its way, he knows how fast things can change!

Guide Dog Trainer Zara Linehan was at the photo shoot for the campaign, and said that it was great to see so many charities all demonstrating how important gifts in Wills were to them. Around three quarters of Britons regularly give to charity in their lifetimes, but only seven per cent currently include a charity in their Will.

We have also unveiled two Remember A Charity yellow plaques, one of which is at our Guide Dogs Training School in Atherton. The other is at our National Breeding centre in Leamington Spa to mark the amazing gift from supporter Peggy Steven, who left enough money in her Will to fund an entire block at the new centre. These large gifts are the exception, however; most of our gifts come from people leaving us a percentage of their estate, after having taken care of family and friends. Two out of every three guide dogs are funded this way – put another way, the next guide dog you see will probably have been made possible through lots of gifts in Wills!

We have also been talking to the press - both the Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman newspapers are publishing supplements on legacy giving, so look out for the Guide Dogs’ stories in both papers. We are also taking part in a “digital shout” on Tuesday, to get Facebook, Twitter, and people talking about this topic online. Finally, all our regional centres will have Remember A Charity window stickers up for the duration of the week. It’s all part of spreading the message of what the key part gifts in Wills play in Guide Dogs future.

So join us in spreading the word, please promote your support using hashtag #lifeisunpredictable and tag @guidedogs and @remember a charity.