Leave a gift in your Will

Leave a gift to Winston's Wish in your will
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Leave a gift of hope

Heartbreakingly, after the death of someone important to them, so many young people feel they’ll never be able to smile ever again.

A gift in your Will today could help ensure that in the future we can reach every child who needs us. Helping them understand their grief, rediscover hope for their future, and rebuild their life. Your greatest gift is a promise they won’t have to grieve alone.

Legacy guide

Get your free Will guide

Our Gifts in Wills Guide will give you confidence in how to start thinking about your Will. It contains practical information you might want to consider, as well as information about why we need your support.

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Our promise to you

As a supporter of Winston’s Wish, you are at the centre of everything we do and therefore we promise…

To be respectful: Family are often the closest people in our lives, and we know their needs will always come first when writing a Will.

To be accountable: We respect your choice and will never put you under pressure to leave a gift in your Will.

To use your gifts wisely: We will do our best to uphold any wishes you have about the use of a gift in your Will.

To respect your privacy: We understand not everyone wishes to share details of a gift in their Will and respect everyone’s right to privacy.

A girl with blonde hair smiling and looking upwards. Shee has grey eyes and a grey and white striped t-shirt
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Tell us your plans

If you are considering or decide to leave a gift to Winston’s Wish in your Will, we would love you to let us know. This gives us the opportunity to thank you and let you know what your gift might achieve.

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Helping you to change or write your Will

Make a FREE Will online

If you haven’t made a Will, why not make one for FREE with the support of our Will for Good partners, Bequeathed Ltd. Simply complete a short online interview and book an appointment to receive advice and your free Will from an accredited legal firm. Once completed they’ll store your Will for free. There’s no obligation to leave a gift to Winston’s Wish, but we hope you will consider it.

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Make a Will in person

If you’d prefer to speak to someone in person The Goodwill Partnership can arrange for someone to come to your home at a time that’s convenient for you. We’re pleased to offer a discounted service through the Partnership, simply visit the website or call 0844 669 6148.

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Your gift could give hope to other young people like Harvey

Harvey tragically lost both parents before the age of 5 and now lives with Auntie Katie, Uncle Perry and cousin Millie. Katie shares:

Click here to read Harvey's story

“We first came to know Winston’s Wish when Harvey’s mum died after a road traffic accident. They talked to us and gave us some information. It was very difficult as he was so young.

“Less than two years later, my brother – Harvey’s dad – was diagnosed with cancer. I instantly knew to reach out to Winston’s Wish and called the helpline. They gave us advice and walked us through how to talk to Harvey to help him make sense of what was happening.

“Winston’s Wish were amazing. They gave us tips such as using simple pieces of information and suggesting what words to say and not say. I remember they advised we didn’t use the word ‘poorly’ so as not to scare the children every time they or someone they love gets poorly. I look back now and think that was so important. Now (he has a) much better awareness and understanding.

“Harvey’s sessions with the Winston’s Wish support worker really helped him. It gave him a place where he could be completely honest about how he felt, whatever his feelings were. Kids don’t get that opportunity often, irrespective of what they’ve been through, just to have someone safe as an adult who they can go to and say, ‘I know they love me but why do I have to do this?’. It was something special for him to remember.

“The other thing that has helped is Harvey understanding that it’s not just him going through this. There are other families and children that have been through tragic and similar circumstances. Winston’s Wish helped me not only speak about my brother’s death to the kids, but it gave me perspective too. Just knowing that there’s this amazing charity that supports all families, and other families that are going through it too. For Harvey, it’s not just what he and Winston’s Wish have achieved, but the comfort of knowing they are there if he needs it going forward.”

Photo of 11-year-old Harvey sat on a sofa, smiling at the camera
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Jane’s husband suddenly and unexpectedly died, her family was in shock. She called Winston’s Wish for advice on how to support their two young children. Jane shares:

Click here to read Jane's story

“I first heard about Winston’s Wish from a kind funeral director who was helping me organise my husband’s funeral. White faced and shaking still from the shock, I was being asked to choose flowers for the coffin of my beloved husband, Chris, who was 47 and just four days earlier had been the active, loving, happy heart of family life for myself and our two children.

“It was that big heart that had stopped suddenly one night, with no warning – plunging me, 7-year-old Tom* and 8-year-old Ellie* into a nightmare from which there was no waking up. Family and friends rallied to help, but the drawn, petrified faces of my children told me that I needed, somehow, an extra dimension of support.

“I rang the Winston’s Wish number I’d been given and spoke to Brendan, whose name and words I still remember after 20 years. Quietly, calmly and sympathetically he listened and he helped, right from the start. He told me it was alright that Tom spent hours on end silently in the corner of our lounge, facing the wall and playing the same tune on his toy over and over again. It was understandable that neither he nor his sister would sleep, out of terror that I too might be gone in the morning.

“I don’t know how, but somehow Brendan’s voice helped to get me through the next few weeks, and then months. He had little strategies to offer to help my son to start eating again, my daughter to start slowly returning to school, all of us to navigate things such as Tom’s birthday four weeks later, Father’s Day and our first Christmas without Daddy.

“Winston’s Wish had many other ways to help us too. I bought some of their special storybooks, that Ellie read repeatedly as they helped her to slowly process what had happened. We created some special photo albums and Winston’s Wish Memory Boxes, that the children (now in their twenties) still quietly look through on occasion.

“Ellie and Tom are grown up now, happy again, and I am very proud of them both. Ellie has become a paramedic and has saved many lives. Tom has become an engineer like his father. He still suffers a degree of anxiety sometimes, but has a partner, house, puppy and lives a full life. What I do know for sure is that both of them would be in a very different place had it not been for Winston’s Wish and the amazing support they give to devastated families like ours. I will be forever grateful.

I have supported Winston’s Wish with a monthly donation ever since, and I have recently left a gift to them in my will. Winston’s Wish were there for my children in their darkest days and I want to help make sure that they continue to be there for other children who need them. Leaving a legacy in memory of Chris that will help Winston’s Wish to continue their vital work is the best way of saying ‘Thank You’ that I can think of.”

Chris and his children blowing out candles on a birthday cake
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Information for solicitors and executors

If you are administering a will with a gift to Winston’s Wish you’ll find useful information on the page below