During this special week, instead of charging a fee for writing a Will, the ten participating firms asked their clients to make a donation to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT).
Lucy Day, Gifts in Wills Advisor at Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, said: “Everyone knows how important it is to make a Will but only half of the population in the East of England have made such provision. We were delighted that these big hearted solicitors and Will writers offered people the opportunity to get their affairs in order, securing peace of mind, while supporting excellence in treatment, research and patient care. We would like to say a huge thank you to all the clients who made such kind donations too. We were bowled over by their generosity”.
Make a Will Week was also an opportunity for the charity to encourage people to consider leaving a charitable gift in their Will.
Lucy added, “Addenbrooke’s was founded on a gift in a Will in 1766 and since then the tradition for remembering the hospitals in a Will has continued. Today, gifts in Wills make up over a third of ACT’s voluntary income, and people often say that they are comforted to know that the gift left in their Will will benefit patients for generations to come”.
The participating solicitors visited Addenbrooke’s last week to see the hospital’s archives, which are supported through charitable funds, and meet Hilary Ritchie, the hospital archivist, who explained how important charitable giving has been to the hospital in the last 250 years and how it will continue to be so.
Image:
Make a Will Week solicitors visiting the hospital archives (Left to right): Jane Ollett (Leeds Day), Catherine Mowat (Tees Law), Minna Rae (Leeds Day), Juliette Montgomery (Greenwoods), Oliver Waite (Oliver’s Wills), Yvonne Raines (Heckford Norton), Suzanne Evans (Greenwoods)
About Make a Will Week
During Make a Will Week, 25-29 April 2016, local solicitors and Will writers either offered their services free of charge in return for clients making a donation to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, or they shared their fee equally with the charity.
The ten firms who took part in Make a Will Week were:
- Adams Harrison (Sawston, Saffron Walden)
- Buckles Solicitors (Peterborough)
- Cambridge Wills and Legal Services (Cambourne)
- Greenwoods (Cambridge)
- Heckford Norton (Saffron Walden)
- Leeds Day (Huntingdon, St Neots)
- Miller Sands (Histon)
- Petersfields LLP (Cambridge, Haverhill)
- Oliver's Wills (based in Royston)
- Tees Law (Cambridge)
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