Have you made a will?

Gifts in wills are the cornerstone of many good causes. That’s why we’re taking part in Include a Charity Week from 12th – 18th September. We want to help raise awareness of gifts in wills and encourage you to think about how you can make your last wishes really count.

Include A Charity have discovered that whilst 70% of Australians support charities, only 7.5% of Australians leave a charitable gift in their will.

The aim of Include A Charity Week is to increase this figure to 12% – which would make an additional $440 million available for charities.

Barnardos Australia relies upon charitable donations in order to keep providing vital care and support to some of our country’s most vulnerable children and young people. Some staggering research shows just how many children and young people are affected by abuse and neglect:

• Every year over 32,000 children in Australia are found to have been abused or neglected. That’s nearly 100 children a day, every day of the year.*

• One in three girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. **

We don’t expect you to write or update your will right now. This is something that takes time. Instead, we only ask that you give a thought to your favourite charities this week. When the time is right, feel free to contact us.

For more information on how you can become a Barnardos ‘Guardian of Hope’ please click here.

For more information about Include A Charity click here.

^{* Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009. Child Protection Australia 2007-2008.
**Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. (2005). Issues Paper 10.}