Leaving a gift to charity in your will
Giving money to charity in your will is a great way to leave a positive legacy for the future, and ensure that the charities that you support in your life can continue to do their vital work for years to come.
How to create a will
If you want to have a say in what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death, it’s important that you create a will. If you don’t have one, the law decides who gets what.
The good news is that it’s really simple to create a will, and there’s lots of advice and guidance online, including template wills that you can use for free.
When writing your will, you should include:
Who you want to benefit from your will.
Who should look after any children under 18.
Who is going to sort out your estate and carry out your wishes after your death (your executor).
What happens if the people you want to benefit die before you.
Information about any donations you would like to leave to charity.
To leave a gift to Possible, you will need to include this information: The 10:10 Foundation (Possible), 8 Delancey Passage, London, NW1 7NN, Charity Number 1157363.
For your will to be legally valid, you must:
be 18 or over.
make it voluntarily.
be of sound mind.
make it in writing.
sign it in the presence of 2 witnesses who are both over 18.
You cannot leave your witnesses (or their married partners) anything in your will.
If you make any changes to your will you must follow the same signing and witnessing process.
If your will is not straightforward (eg. if you own a business, if you share a property with someone who is not your husband, wife or civil partner, and/or if you have property overseas), we’d recommend getting legal advice to write your will. But if yours is quite straightforward, you can write it yourself.
Where to keep my will
Once you have written your will, and got it signed by two witnesses, you should keep it somewhere safe. You can keep your will at your home or store it with:
your solicitor.
your bank.
a company that offers the storage of wills - you can search online.
the national probate registry in Newcastle.
You should tell your executor (the person you’ve chosen to carry out your will), a close friend or relative where your will is.
Updating an existing will
The easiest way to update your will is to make an official alteration (called a ‘codicil’). This is like an appendix, signed by two witnesses (just like your original will) which you can just keep with your will. You can have as many codicils as you like.
If you would like to create a codicil that leaves a gift to Possible in your will, you can use our template.
Leaving a gift to Possible
We know that your family and loved ones must always come first, but once they are taken care of, we ask that you consider leaving a gift in your will to Possible so that we can keep inspiring action for many years to come.
For over a decade Possible has been working to provide people with meaningful ways they can act on climate change. From bringing people together to plant hedges and capture carbon, to campaigning for changes to onshore wind policy or installing community owned solar panels to power trains, everything we do is about inspiring more people to take more action on climate change.
Climate change is one of the biggest threats currently facing our planet, and is already causing huge shifts in the climate affecting our food supplies, homes, biodiversity, and much more. And these effects will be felt first and strongest by those who have done the least to cause them.
With your support, Possible can bring people together for years to come to take action on the climate crisis. For over a decade, we’ve helped people overcome their climate dread and empowered them to take action. Together, we’ve created solar schools, championed onshore wind, and planted thousands of trees to help suck up carbon and prevent flooding. But we know there’s still loads more to do if we’re to tackle climate change. With your help, we can bring even more people on board - and together, we can win.
If you would like to talk to someone about leaving a gift to Possible in your will, email Hannah at hannah@wearepossible.org to arrange a call.