Pledge a gift in your will

That’s around 2,700 people diagnosed with cancer every month just in this region. This is why research in to finding new, kinder treatments and improved tests is so vital. And research requires funding.

Many research projects across the UK, such as those at the University of Birmingham, benefit from the generosity of people leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in their Will.

Val from Rednal, Birmingham, is a long-standing supporter and volunteer at Cancer Research UK and has pledged to leave Cancer Research UK a gift in her will.

Val says, “I began supporting Cancer Research UK in 1984 when my lovely mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated with a lumpectomy but sadly died in 1985. It was heart-breaking and still is to this day. I know everyone says their mum is the best, but mine really was.

“I started fundraising at work and I became a charity champion, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for Cancer Research UK. I’ve also set up a permanent donation station at my local social club and along with music gigs, raffles and other initiatives, have raised over £30,000 in three years.

“I want to carry on supporting the charity after my lifetime by leaving a gift in my Will. My motivation for fundraising, and for pledging to leave a gift in my Will, is because I hope the money raised will fund research so that no other families have to go through what ours did, and so that no other 21-year-old has to lose their beloved mother to cancer.”

Val is leaving a residuary gift in her Will. Val explains: “It’s a no-brainer for me to leave a percentage of my estate, rather than a set amount. And this percentage is gifted to Cancer Research UK when all other payments have been made. It is important to ‘future-proof’ the gift you are giving.

“I have seen the advances in research over recent years and I believe that if my mum had been diagnosed now she would have had a much better chance of surviving. I am passionate about finding treatments for this horrible heart-breaking disease. I’d like to turn heartbreak into survival by making the money from my lifetime do something everlasting.

“You can’t undo research. I want my gift to help people and, in my eyes, research is the best way to do that. Nobody knows what the next £100, £1000, £10,000 can bring, but I am convinced it will save and prolong otherwise shortened lives.

“It’s easy to find out about leaving a gift in your Will. I used the Cancer Research UK website and downloaded the Gift in Wills Guide. The charity also has local Community Legacy Managers who can talk you through the process and answer any questions you may have.”

Gifts in Wills fund over a third of Cancer Research UK’s life-saving research. These vital legacies, together with the commitment of the researchers to make progress, are so important to helping those in the future who face cancer.

To find out more, get your free Gifts in Wills guide here: cruk.org/pledgewestmidlands

Together we will beat cancer.

*Based on the average annual number of new cases of all cancers combined excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (ICD10 C00-C97 excl.C44) diagnosed in the West Midlands between 2015 and 2017.