Leave a Gift in Your Will - Legacy Giving

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Legacy giving

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Thank you for considering leaving a gift in your Will to St John Ambulance – we are incredibly grateful. Legacy giving is a very special way of continuing your support far into the future, and a gift of any size can help keep our communities safe.

An amazing 24% of our charitable funding comes from legacy gifts. When someone leaves a gift to us in their Will, they are helping us train and equip the next generation of lifesavers.

Your support can help us realise our vision of a world where everyone is confident, ready and able to respond whenever first aid is needed - saving more lives.

Anyone can leave a gift in their Will to charity. Even just 1% of the remainder of your estate could make a huge difference to funding our vital work.

Making your Will is one of the most important things you’ll ever do. It ensures that your money and belongings will go to the people and causes you care about when you're gone. You'll find lots of information here to help make the process much easier.

To leave a gift to St John Ambulance, you'll need:

Our registered charity number: 1077265/1
Our registered address: St John Ambulance, 27 St John's Lane, London, EC1M 4BU

Information for executors and solicitors

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Get your free Gifts in Wills guide

Full of practical information to help you ensure that your money and belongings go to the people and causes you care about.

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Get your Will written for free

We’ve teamed up with the experts at Bequeathed to offer you a convenient and free way to write a Will online.

Help with making your Will

Leaving a gift in your Will is straightforward, but we recommend that you get advice from a legal professional, to ensure that your wishes are clear and can be carried out once you’re gone. This could be from your family solicitor, or our trusted partners at Bequeathed who can help you write or update your Will for free.

To make a Will, you will need to:

Estimate the potential value of your estate. This is everything you own (such as property, stocks, shares, savings, personal items), minus any outstanding liabilities (debts, such as a mortgage or loans). In some cases inheritance tax may be payable.
Think about what you would like to happen to your estate and what gifts you would like to make. In addition to providing for your family and friends, you may also choose to leave a gift in your Will to St John Ambulance, helping to save lives in the future.
Think about how you’d like certain matters to be handled after your death, for example, your funeral or appointing legal guardians for your children.
You may want to talk to your family about your Will, to explain your wishes and hear their thoughts. Ensuring that the people closest to you know about your Will can be very beneficial. In our experience, most families are proud of the gifts their loved ones leave to St John.
Make an appointment with a solicitor or legal professional to write or update your Will. Our trusted partners at Bequeathed can provide a basic Will for free.

Types of gifts you can leave to charity in your Will:

A residuary gift is a percentage or share of your residual estate (i.e. what is left after other specified gifts, costs, debts and tax have been paid). It keeps pace with inflation.
A pecuniary gift is a fixed sum of money. You can choose to leave any amount, but inflation will reduce its value, so you may wish to review the gift from time to time.
A specific gift is a particular item, such as property, jewellery, antiques or shares.
A reversionary gift allows a beneficiary to use your assets during their lifetime (e.g. living in a house or receiving investment income), with all or part of the assets passing to your chosen charity on their death.

For lots more useful information about making your Will, you can request a copy of our free Gifts in Wills Guide.

Make your Will online for free with Bequeathed

We’ve teamed up with the experts at Bequeathed to offer you a convenient and free way to write a Will online, from the comfort of your home. With detailed guidance and advice, you can confidently make a good basic Will online for free. Or you can choose to pay for a more detailed Will, if necessary.

If you want legal advice at any stage, just ask. Bequeathed will connect you to a solicitor who’ll help you to complete your Will face-to-face or over the phone.  There’s no obligation to leave a gift in your Will to us when you use this service. But, after making sure loved ones are looked after, it would be wonderful if you chose to support us in this special way.

How gifts in Wills save lives

24% of our charitable fundraising comes from gifts in Wills. In 2023...

16,000 people were trained in lifesaving community first aid

8,487 trained volunteers attended events

15,358 new volunteers were trained

Support volunteers like Sheila

Sheila has been a volunteer with St John Ambulance for an incredible 50 years. Her experience means that she dedicates a huge amount of her time to training new, young volunteers in first aid that saves lives.

By leaving a gift to St John Ambulance in your Will, you can help volunteers like Sheila train the life savers of the future. Your gift will help us be there for communities like yours in years to come – on every street, on every corner.

Our legacy promise

We'll always treat any gift to St John Ambulance with the utmost respect.

We understand that those you hold dear will always come first when making your Will. We fully respect this and will never try to change it.

We respect that this is a big decision and extremely personal to you, so please take your time. We will never pressure you into making a decision, but we’re here to help you with any questions you may have. We also recommend that you discuss your plans with a loved one.

We will always be discreet. You don't have to tell us if you have chosen to leave St John Ambulance a gift in your Will. However, if you are happy to let us know your intentions, it can help us to plan for the future. You can rest assured that we would keep your decision completely confidential.
We promise to use your gift wisely, prudently, and where it will have the most impact. Every penny you give will help us train and equip the next generation of lifesavers, to provide vital first aid in the moments that matter.

We understand that personal circumstances can change at any time. Your decision is not binding, and you can always change your mind about leaving us a gift.
We will always treat you, and when the time comes, your family and representatives, with sensitivity and respect. We will answer all your questions fully, openly, and honestly.

Simon: My legacy promise

"With my gift, I want to make sure that volunteers like me can keep delivering first aid in our communities. That way, people can enjoy themselves, safe in the knowledge that if anything happens, St John will be there. That’s why I’ve decided to leave a gift to St John in my Will."

Speak to our Legacy Giving team

Call 020 7324 4148 or email

legacy@sja.org.uk

You can also write to us at St John Ambulance, 27 St John's Lane, London, EC1M 4BU.

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