Legacy giving increased by 8 per cent from £2bn in 2013 to £2.2bn in 2014 in England and Wales, despite a slight fall in the number of people that died, according to research published today. 

Smee and Ford, a legacy benchmarking consultancy, has published the figures as part of Remember a Charity week. It compiled the data by analysing accounts filed with the Charity Commission.

The number of English and Welsh charities receiving legacy donations has  increased by 5 per cent to 2,257 - this is almost one-third higher than the number of charities benefiting in 2007. 

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.  

“As the largest single source of voluntary income, the impact and importance of legacy giving cannot be underestimated. During Remember A Charity Week we have been working with Government, business and charities to support the sector to become loud about legacies.”

35,000 left money to charity in 2014

Almost 35,000 people across England, Scotland and Wales left some 112,937 gifts to charity in their wills in 2014, with supporters typically choosing to benefit three charities.

Donors also gave more of their estate to charity than previously - typically, 16.65 per cent of each estate – up from 15.8 per cent from 2013.

According to separate research by Smee and Ford of wills that go to probate, one in six people whose wills go to probate include a charity legacy, with people in England most likely to leave a legacy. 

Some 16.2 per cent of wills in England included a legacy gift to charity – with people in the south east of England giving the most. The figure dropped to 14.2 per cent in Wales and 11.2 per cent in Scotland.

Remember A Charity is one of the UK’s largest collaborative charity campaigns, involving over 150 charities and almost 1,000 solicitors and will-writing firms.