A future without worry, for generations to come

“I hate people to be worried about money. I worried about it in the past myself.”

Mandy knows what she is talking about. Her first husband left her with very little. For a time she was working four jobs at once with a child still at home. Today she has her own home and, in her words, a good quality of life.

She started giving to Turn2us during the pandemic, when she saw money worries spreading through the lives of people around her, and she has since gone a step further. She has included a gift to Turn2us in her will.

“It is so important we do what we can to prevent people losing everything,” she says.

“I see Turn2us as people’s first port of call, before they get to such a desperate situation.”

The desperate situation she refers to looks a lot like Gary’s. Before his partner was diagnosed with a spinal tumour, the family had two incomes. Gary gave up his job to care for her, and with three children at home, going back to work full-time wasn’t possible.

They did what most people do: loans, credit cards. Before long their debts were unpayable.

“We were seriously struggling to make ends meet,” he says. “It plays on your mind; you worry how you’ll afford things. It can feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Gary found the benefits system complex and, in his words, hostile. What he needed was someone to make sense of it.

He turned to Turn2us, and its free online Benefits Calculator (benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk) showed him exactly what his family was entitled to claim. 

“It gave us a lifeline when we needed it most.”

Gary’s story isn’t unusual. Half of people in the UK dipped into their savings to pay everyday bills in the past year.* Millions of us sit on a cliff edge, at risk of financial insecurity or indeed falling into poverty.

“People are keeping their heads above water, but only just,” he says. “You can lose your job at the drop of a hat, or suddenly become seriously ill.”

Turn2us has been helping people since 1897, when Elizabeth Finn founded it at the age of 72 as the Distressed Gentlefolks’ Aid Association. A charity does not last 129 years by accident. It lasts because generation after generation has trusted it with their money, through two world wars, a depression, a pandemic and every recession in between.

One of its earliest gifts came from its founding chairman, Colonel William Knollys, who bequeathed the charity £450 in his will. Today that would be worth around £40,000.

Every legacy since has done the same job. It has kept the door open for people who had not yet needed to knock.

That is what Mandy is doing, too.

“I want the gift I leave to help Turn2us do more of what they’re doing already, to help more people not have to worry in future,” she says.

“I genuinely trust that they will do the best with my support. I couldn’t do any better than choosing to include a gift to Turn2us in my will.”

Mandy continues: “I hope it’s something [others will] consider too.”

Turn2us makes cash grants directly to people who need them, for the cooker that has packed up, the school uniform that has to be replaced, the bill that has got away from someone.

Its Grants Search brings together thousands of charitable funds so that people can find the ones they are eligible for.

Its Benefits Calculator helps people like Gary find the financial support they’re entitled to. And its policy work, shaped by people who have lived through hardship themselves, pushes for a system that is easier to survive.

A gift in a will doesn’t have to be large to matter. After family and friends have been provided for, even a modest share of what remains can help create a future without worry for someone you will never meet.

Writing a will is one of those jobs many of us keep meaning to get round to, and it needn’t be expensive or daunting. Turn2us offers a free will-writing service.

Through Make A Will Online, people in England and Wales can complete their will from home, and the finished document is checked by a solicitor registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

If you would prefer to sit down with someone in person, Turn2us can put you in touch with a participating local solicitor through the National Free Wills Network.

There is no cost, and no obligation to include a gift to Turn2us, though the charity would be glad to hear from you if you do.

Once you have taken care of your loved ones, please consider including a gift to Turn2us too.

It costs nothing now, and it could mean everything to a family like Gary’s in the years to come. 

2.5 million

Benefits Calculator checks completed in 2025/26

£10.83 billion

Potential benefits identified

Write your will for free today and find out how you can leave a future without worry.

Visit: makeawillonline.co.uk/turn2us
Email:legacy@turn2us.org.uk
Call: 020 8834 9200 and press option 5

* Source: Citizens Advice, March 2025

Turn2us is the operating name of Elizabeth Finn Care, a registered charity (207812 / SC040987) and a company limited by guarantee (515297) registered in England and Wales. Copyright © 2026 Turn2us.

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