Free Will service for Big Issue supporters this Autumn

This Autumn, we’ve partnered with Guardian Angel to offer a limited number of free Wills to Big Issue supporters.

Since 1995, The Big Issue Foundation has been there to give a hand up to disadvantaged and vulnerable people across the UK. We aim to never turn away anyone in need of help. With your help, we never will.

By remembering The Big Issue Foundation in your will, your incredible gift, whatever size, will help maintain our work into the future, so we can continue to create opportunities that will end poverty and exclusion for future generations.

This Autumn, we’ve partnered with Guardian Angel to offer a limited number of FREE online Wills to our supporters (RRP £90).

If you are in England or Wales, you can complete your free Will online in as little as 15 minutes. To get started, simply click the button below.

If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland, call the Guardian Angel team on 0800 773 4014 and quote Big Issue Foundation to make an appointment to write your free will over the phone or in person with a solicitor. This option is also available in England and Wales.

Whilst there is no obligation to leave us a gift in your will, by doing so, you will help ensure we will be around to continue our support and provide a hand up to those at risk of or experiencing homelessness for as long as there is a need.

In December 2016, Guardian Angel founder Sam lost his mother tragically in a car accident. The support from family and friends that followed the accident was amazing. But managing that support together with the funeral and wake proved difficult. It was during this challenging time that Sam came up with the ideas of making a secure and private online service specially designed to help families through these hard times.

Death is a taboo, and for this reason, discussion on the topic is often limited. In times of grief, there is a lack of communication and people tend to withdraw, struggling to cope with what they are experiencing. This lack of discussion around death also means that people generally do not plan, leaving the family who is left behind with more stress.

Guardian Angel believes it can make a positive and long-lasting contribution to society. By helping to break down the taboo attached to dying, we want to help everybody plan for, and through death.

Friends and family always come first but giving to The Big Issue Foundation in your will is one way you can leave a legacy that helps future generations. There are a number of types of gifts that you can leave to us in your will, which include:

• A share of your estate. Known as a “residuary legacy”, this is when you leave a portion of what you own to us, after your family and friends have received what you want to give them. It might be as small as 1% or as large as 100%, or anywhere in between. This is the most popular legacy for The Big Issue Foundation, and it remains in line with inflation because it’s proportional to your estate.
• A fixed sum of money. Called a “pecuniary legacy”, this is a cash gift. Inflation can reduce its value over the years, so it’s worth reviewing these gifts occasionally.
• A specific gift. This is a particular named item, for example a piece of jewellery or other property.
• A gift in trust. This is a “reversionary legacy” which is when you leave assets to your loved one for the duration of their life. When they die, your Will could be written so that a legacy could be left to The Big Issue Foundation at that time.

The Big Issue Foundation is a registered charity so giving to us in your will is a cost-effective way to donate because the gift is exempt from inheritance tax. If you leave more than 10% of your entire estate to charity then the total amount of inheritance tax you pay reduces from 40% to 36%.

Large or small, whatever gift you can give, will be a life-changing gift to a Big Issue vendor.