A new survey into the construction and gifts left in wills in the UK has found that charitable giving increased by 8% from £2bn in 2013 to £2.2bn in 2014 in England and Wales.

The survey, which comes from analysis of the Charity Commission for “Remember a Charity week” found that English and Welsh charities receiving gifts in wills had increased by 5% to 2,257 gifts per annum. The figures from 2014 represented not only a 5% increase from the previous year but also represented a rise of over 30% of the number of charities benefiting in 2007. The statistics are even more staggering given the fact that there were fewer deaths in the previous year than in 2013.

Leaving a Charitable Bequest

According to a study, 35,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales left more than 112,000 gifts to charity in their wills in 2014, with supporters typically choosing to benefit three charities.

Research also found that those who left a charitable gift were also more likely to pass on a larger proportion of their estate to charity with 16.65% of an estate being the average left, up from 15.8% in the previous years.

One in six people in the UK are now likely to include a charity legacy in their will with the South of England being the most likely area to do so. Rob Cope, director of Remember A Charity, said: "Legacy income continues to flourish, with donors leaving a larger proportion of their estates to good causes and more charities benefiting than ever before.”

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