In the festive season it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of Christmas gift-giving. But there’s a way you can spread your goodwill beyond your loved ones to a much wider audience.
Leaving a donation in your will to a charity can make life worth living for thousands more people and leave a lasting legacy.
Currently only 6% of people leave a gift to charity in their will – if this increased to 10% it would generate another £1 billion for good causes each year. Legacies fund over a third of the invaluable work carried out by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) which provides practical and emotional support to anyone living with sight loss.
Every day, 250 people begin to lose their sight, but this doesn’t have to mean losing out on life. The RNIB empowers people to live the lives they choose – at home, at work and in their communities. ‘We break down barriers that hold people with sight loss back and give them the practical and emotional support they need,’ says an RNIB spokesman. ‘Gifts in wills are increasingly vital in our push for progress. More than two million people are living with sight loss in the UK, and 83% of the people diagnosed receive no practical or emotional support.’
The charity has been vital for Joyce, whose children were both born with Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited condition that causes severe sight loss. Her family have received so much support from the RNIB over the years – from using its sight-loss services to support and advice from its helpline – that she has chosen to leave the charity a gift in her will.
‘I hope my legacy gift to the RNIB will support parents coming to terms with their children’s diagnosis, giving them somewhere to turn for help and just having someone there to listen,’ says Joyce.
Gifts such as hers also help people like Dave live their lives in the way they choose. After suffering a stroke in 2010 Dave lost the right side of his visual field in both his eyes, a rare condition called right homonymous hemianopia. ‘Losing my sight meant the loss of my driving licence, income and independence,’ he says. ‘I was very lucky to be able to speak with an eye care liaison officer (ECLO) and a stroke coordinator. They both really supported me.
‘One of my favourite sayings is that the answers you’re looking for are in the questions that you ask. But the difficulty I was having was knowing who to ask. That’s where the RNIB came in, with its helpline, ECLOs, befriending service and talk-and- support groups.’
The RNIB funds more than 100 ECLOs, who provide practical and emotional support following a sight loss diagnosis to more than 60,000 blind and partially sighted people and their families each year.
It also supports around 1,100 families and individuals annually, and each year about 1,200 people are referred to its counselling team. More than 800 people a year are supported to stay in work, with more than 6,400 blind and partially sighted individuals a year getting expert tech support over the phone, email and in-person via the RNIB’s Technology for Life service.
The charity hosts a series of nationwide events and also offers a free and accessible will-writing service, making the process of writing or updating a will and leaving a gift to the RNIB as simple as possible.
‘Too many people go through their sight loss journey alone,’ the RNIB spokesman says. ‘You can help change that by remembering RNIB in your will. Every gift can make a difference.’
