CHRISTIAN AID is encouraging people to consider including a legacy to the charity when they write their wills.
We asked the charity to tell us about the thinking behind the initiative.
This is Christian Aid’s article: There’s only one absolute certainty in life — it will not last forever.
Making a Will can’t change that and it can’t prevent the pain and sadness for those who are left behind. But it can help to prevent a lot of unnecessary distress at a difficult time. What’s more, a valid Will is the only way you can make sure that your wishes are understood and acted upon after you are gone.
The first job of any Will must be to look after friends and family. But alongside that, it’s perfectly possible to leave an additional gift to a charity such as Christian Aid.
Three types of gift
Whether you’re making a new Will or amending an existing one, including Christian Aid is easy. And there are three different types of gift you can consider:
A specific gift is a possession or item such as jewellery, property shares.
A pecuniary gift is a financial donation of a fixed amount.
A residuary gift is a part of what remains of your estate once your other wishes have been met.
Gifts of this kind, known as legacies are absolutely vital to the future of our work. In fact, they account for five per cent of everything we do. So just by including Christian Aid in your Will, you’ll be making sure your values live on long after you die.
In financial terms your legacy may be large or small. But either way, you can be sure it will bring us closer to a time when poverty is finally over.
At Christian Aid we know that a legacy is not just a financial gift, but a gift of trust. And one that we truly value.
Gabriel’s Story
Gabriel Tutuuali isn’t sure how old he is. But he thinks he’s probably about 100. Every day of his adult life he has dug and cultivated the arid Ghanaian soil on which he was born. With a combination of love and hard labour, he has successfully raised seven children of his own.
‘We eat everything we grow’ he says. ‘And sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes there’s no food and we just suffer.’
But regardless of the odds, Gabriel is determined to do more than just feed his own children and grandchildren. He wants to make sure that every child in his community gets a school meal — and therefore an education.
‘There were a lot of children in the community who did not go to school’, he explains, ‘Because of hunger they used to run away home for food.’
So working with Christian Aid partner SEND Ghana, Gabriel and a group of community elders, teachers and parents have been working to make sure the government delivers on its promise to provide school meals. Gabriel has even helped build a new school kitchen.
‘It took us two weeks. We went once and moulded the bricks. Then we went again and built it. Then the third time, we built the roof. Now that the children are receiving regular meals, they go to school every day.’
Gabriel has many years behind him, but it is the future he is looking to, not the past.
‘I want my legacy to be that my children and grandchildren have more education and can solve their own problems. I want there to be peace in the village so that the community will develop. If we concentrate on farming and grow enough to be able to sell, I think we can end poverty in the world.’
Contact Christian Aid
If you would like to discuss leaving a legacy to Christian Aid, please contact Sarah Leeman in our Belfast office. Email, or telephone 028 9064 8133.
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