Launching its Make a Will Month campaign from May 1 to 31 in partnership with local solicitors, St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth is highlighting the good sense of making sure wills keep pace with the significant changes in people’s lives, such as buying a home, getting married, starting a family, getting divorced or the death of a partner.
In support of the campaign, which raises vital funds to help the charity continue its compassionate care for terminally ill people across Plymouth and surrounding areas, 20 community-spirited solicitors are waiving the fee they would normally charge for making and updating wills in return for a donation to St Luke’s.
The charity gives its specialist care and support free of charge to the many local families who rely on its service, but with less than a third of its funding coming from the NHS it is reliant on the generosity of its supporters to continue its vital role.
Spearheading St Luke’s Make a Will Month campaign is the charity’s head of fundraising Penny Hannah, who knows first hand how life can change overnight and how keeping your will current can help bring peace of mind.
Penny said:
“I think it was learning at an early age that nothing in life is certain that made me feel I always want to be as prepared as I can be for whatever lies ahead.
“I was just 14 when my father died suddenly, and I had to grow up fast. Losing dad was incredibly hard, and my older siblings and I became a rock for my mum.
“I started work as soon as I could so that there was enough money coming in, taking a cleaning job after school at 14 and going into the world of retail, where I quickly worked my way up. By the age of 23 I was a store manager for a national retail chain and had my own home, but it was marriage and the birth of my first daughter, Amber, that was the catalyst for me deciding to get organised and make a will.
“I remember, very clearly, wanting to know she would be provided for if history repeated itself and she lost me young in life the way I lost my dad. When my then husband and I made our wills, we included our choice of legal guardians for her, something we updated a few years later when our second daughter, Ruby, was born.
“Since then, life has taken many unexpected twists and turns, as it does for most people. Following the breakdown of my marriage and subsequent divorce, which led to a new chapter in my life, I knew it was important that I should rewrite my will.
“The next part of my story is a fairytale. I met my prince, Andrew, and when we married our two families became one bigger one of seven. We have shifted careers and moved home, and as a couple we have agreed to keep our wills current so that our loved ones are provided for, no matter what happens.
“While I understand that it may not be uppermost in people’s minds at the moment with everything else that is going on, I can’t stress enough how having an up-to-date will can help free you to enjoy living in the moment.
“It is one of the kindest things you can do for the people who matter most to you, making what can be a traumatic time for them that bit easier.”
Details of the solicitors taking part in St Luke’s Make a Will Month are on the charity’s website at www.stlukes-hospice.org.uk/makeawill, or call 01752 492626 for more information. Appointments can be made for May or for later in the year, and there is the option to meet with a solicitor online or in person.
