Be Someone’s Lifeline: Preston residents urged to leave a legacy during Free Wills Month and help save lives

The Free Wills Month scheme gives those aged 55 and over the opportunity to write or update their will with local participating solicitors and, if they wish, to include a gift to a charity of their choice, after they have taken care of their loved ones.

The RNLI’s legacy income manager, Eifron Hopper said: "At least six out of ten RNLI lifeboat launches are only made possible because of gifts left to the RNLI in wills, and although people taking up the Free Wills Month offer aren’t obliged to leave a gift in their will to the RNLI, the charity hopes people will consider doing so to help fund the lifesaving service.

"Free Wills Month is a great opportunity for people who’ve been meaning to write or update a will to do so and to help power the RNLI’s lifesaving future in the process.

"RNLI supporters have left all sorts of things to the charity in their wills, ranging from a round of drinks for their local volunteer lifeboat crew, to a 100-year-old bottle of brandy to a much-loved collection of Ferraris! Whatever the value of the donation, we’re always grateful to anyone who leaves a gift to the RNLI in their will, enabling our volunteer crews to continue to save lives at sea."

Occasionally, the RNLI receives a large gift, but smaller legacies make a big difference too. A gift in a will of £458 pays for a new lifejacket to keep an inshore lifeboat crew member safe at sea; £872 is enough to equip a beach lifeguard; while £1,600 will provide the training for a lifeboat crew member for a whole year.

For more information - including details of solicitors in Preston participating in Free Wills Month - call 0300 300 0124 or email [email protected]. For general information about Free Wills Month, visit RNLI.org/FreeWills.