Will Aid

Wills and probate solicitors around the UK have succeeded in raising more than £2 million for the last Will Aid campaign, beating all previous records. With 1450 solicitors’ offices taking part, Will Aid has established itself as the leading charity campaign for the legal profession.

Over 23,000 people made a Will through the scheme during November and the national press coverage that the campaign achieved served to highlight the pitfalls of dying intestate or not using a legal professional to draft a properly thought out Will.

Demand from the public for the scheme was higher than ever and participating solicitors were introduced to a large number of new clients, many of whom had never set foot in solicitor’s offices before.

Despite the hard work, the majority of participating solicitors really enjoyed the experience and felt that it was of benefit to their business.

Jane Hunter of Steels Solicitors in Warrington, describes how the 2011 worked for the firm.

“This was our best year ever! We have raised in excess of £12,000 by writing Wills for 200 or so individual clients. Most of the instructions were from new clients and we see this scheme as a fantastic opportunity to encourage people to come and make a will and meet their local solicitor.  Most new clients have never been in a solicitor’s office and are nervous and intimidated by what they envisage will happen. 

We have had a lot of positive feedback to us and this has in turn led to increased instructions and repeat business from new clients.  We also find that these clients tell their friends and family and we then experience more business this way.”

Another Will Aid solicitor, Nick Hall of Davenport Lyons, London, who has individually raised the huge sum of £23,000 since 2009 and expects to have raised between £10 and 12k this time around, said:

“I think people appreciated our firm working for charity. It immediately put us on the same team. They appreciated the advice on issues some hadn't previously considered.

Once the Will had been completed they asked ‘who do I make the cheque payable to?’ and were impressed it went directly to Will Aid.  Clients were friendly and pleased to have contributed to such a good cause, whilst protecting their loved ones.”

Shirley Marsland, Will Aid Campaign Manager, responded to these fantastic results:

“The Will Aid charities are very grateful for the support and hard work of every solicitor who took part in the campaign to achieve such an impressive result. The money raised will be shared by the charities and immediately put to work helping them improve the lives of many people in the UK and overseas.

Our goal for 2012 is to recruit more solicitors into the scheme to meet the demand from public. While business realities mean that solicitors may be reticent about committing themselves to work for free, the experience of the solicitors who take part is that Will Aid really does introduce new clients, generate personal recommendations and have a positive impact on the bottom line in the longer term."

For more information and to register for the 2012 campaign, please visit www.willaid.org.uk or call 01460 271178.

ENDS