Two years ago, we diversified from our usual core business, and partnered with a national charity. We wanted to be able to offer a free will service to people of our local area. We entered into partnership with national charity Cancer Research UK in 2021. The idea was to be able to bring a free will-writing service to people of the area. At that time, we didn’t realise that just two years on we would have already secured £283,067 in valuable income for the charity. Better still, over 120 local people had been able to get a professional, solicitor-written will at no cost to them.
About the free will service.
Solicitor and owner of Marley Solicitors, Lesley Anne Delaney said,
“People are sometimes sceptical when they’re told they can have something of such perceived high value for nothing. But there is no catch. Cancer Research UK support the law firm in being able to offer this service. In return people have the opportunity to leave a gift or pledge in their will back to the charity. So only on the sad occasion of someone passing will the charity receive the pledge. And it costs the individual nothing at all in the meantime”.
She continued,
“We’ve been blown away at the uptake for this service. We have been established for a long time; our small team have a combined 48 years experience working in other areas of law. But there has been so much interest in this. People largely find us via word of mouth as our clients are very loyal and always recommend us to those they know, which is great. Since being able to allow people to get a professional will written by a solicitor for nothing, this has now become a massive part of our business.”
What it means to CRUK
It came as a huge surprise to us all this month when we first learned about the cumulative scale of the pledges left to the charity in wills by people of Bamber Bridge, and the surrounding areas. Legacy Partnership Manager for Cancer Research UK, Helen Souter said,
“I had the pleasure of visiting Marley Solicitors yesterday at their office in Bamber Bridge. Due to the challenges of the last couple of years this is the first time that Lesley and I have actually met face to face. Marley Solicitors joined the CRUK Free Will Service only 2 years ago, and in that time have arranged over 120 wills for supporters through the service, and the total pledged gifts in these Wills comes to an amazing £283,067.”
When asked about the difference these pledges from South Ribble residents and supporters have made, she added,
“It is thanks to our loyal member firms like Marley Solicitors and to the wonderful people who decide to leave a gift in their will to Cancer Research UK that we can continue to fund pioneering research. Catching cancer early is key to improving survival. Gifts in Wills account for more than one third of our income every year and has a significant impact on our ability to fund groundbreaking discovery. Thank you to Marley Solicitors for the incredibly important work they do in helping us to beat cancer.”
What it means to the people of our area
It’s not just the charity who are overwhelmed with the sum donated. Our clients regularly feed back how important the service has been to them. One such local client recently told us what it meant to them to be able to get a free will and support the cause in the process:
“Got a will written using Marley’s Cancer Research free will service. It really was totally free and the team there were a pleasure to work with. Lesley dealt with my requirements quickly and professionally and in a really warm and welcoming way which really took the stress out of an otherwise horrible task. Should have done this years ago! Can’t recommend the company and this service highly enough!”
Why everyone should have a will
“Having a will to express your wishes should the worst happen is not a luxury, every single adult should have access to this service. What organisations like CRUK are doing with these initiatives is making this accessible to many more people who may not otherwise think about it or be able to afford it.” Said solicitor Lesley, adding “It’s important to say that in complex cases, the simple will service which the charity supports aren’t always suitable, but we can quickly tell if that is the case following a quick chat with the client. And as you can see from the number of people who have taken out free wills with us so far, for the overwhelming majority of people, this free service really does work.”
Having received the certificate and accolade from the charity this week, we pledge to continue offering this service to anyone in the area needing it.
“It’s a great sum of money that will help so many. But there are many other people out there who can benefit from this service. So we look forward to offering even more people the reassurance that having a professional will arranged brings them.”