A gift in your will to UCLH Cancer Fund will transform the future of care for people with cancer.

You can help us to enhance patient care, fund life-saving research and improve the lives of those living with cancer, at UCLH and beyond.

Some people choose to include the Cancer Fund in their will and leave a legacy by which they will be remembered. Anyone can leave a gift in their will, from a specific sum of money to shares in property or valued items. A will is an excellent way to be sure that particular wishes are carried out after death. 

A gift of just 5% of your estate, for example, could help us to:

  • Ensure specialist training for staff, from qualifications in psychological support, to patient assessment and pain management. The specialist education that the Cancer Fund supports is essential to the safe running of the service, supporting staff in their professional development and creating a holistic service of care.
  • Advance life saving research, like identifying new techniques to take cancer diagnosis times from weeks to hours, or developing tools to create personalised surgical pathways for patients with prostate cancer. The research we fund doesn't just stay at UCLH - it can go on to have national and international impact.
  • Seed fund new staff positions, to ensure patients are receiving support in all the necessary areas. From a dedicated Youth Support Coordinator, ensuring young people are getting the help they need throughout treatment, to a Mental Health Practitioner for emotional well-being. 

Most importantly, leaving a gift in your will can help us to plan for the future, and provide support where it is needed most for patients with cancer, and the staff who care for them at UCLH.

How to include the Cancer Fund in your will

Leaving a gift in your will involves adding a short paragraph (clause) to your will, and selecting the type of gift which you would like to leave. You can take a look at our wording for wills guide as a start, but we would always suggest that you use a qualified solicitor to assist you with this, and to help guide you with the most appropriate gift to leave.

Including Cancer Fund in a will can be as simple as adding a short clause to an existing will using a 'codicil'. A codicil is a simple, inexpensive way to make specific changes or additions to your will while leaving the remaining provisions as they are. You will need to ask your solicitor to draw up a codicil for you.

We've partnered with Octopus Legacy, a trusted will-writing service, to offer Cancer Fund supporters a professionally written will—completely free of charge (normally £90).

To claim your free will, simply enter the code UCLHCANCERFUND-FREE at checkout.

There's no obligation, but we kindly ask you to consider leaving a gift to the Cancer Fund in your will—your support helps us continue our vital work.

Click the link here to visit our page on their website.

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Leaving a gift to charity FAQs

Legacy gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and every contribution makes a meaningful impact. Whether it’s a small percentage of your estate or a modest gift, your generosity can help fund vital research, enhance patient care, and support UCLH staff. What matters most is the thought and intention behind your gift, not the amount.

The cost of a will varies greatly depending on the estate's complexity and the person’s wishes. It’s a good idea to shop around for quotes for making your will and to look for STEP-qualified solicitors because this means they have specialist knowledge of wills and estates. The Law Society can recommend a solicitor for you.

This is a gift of all or part of what is left of your estate after everyone else has been taken care of. It is called the ‘residue’. Your will should include instructions on what to do with the residue.

You can choose to leave a specific gift in your will — this might be a set amount of money (known as a pecuniary gift), or a particular item such as jewellery, shares, or property.

We’re incredibly grateful for every gift we receive, and these thoughtful contributions help us continue providing vital cancer care and support. Specific gifts can make an immediate and meaningful difference to our work.

That said, a residuary gift — a share of what remains in your estate after taking care of loved ones — is one of the most powerful ways you can support us, making a lasting impact through even a small percentage of your estate.

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Let us know

If you're considering leaving a gift for UCLH Cancer Fund in your will, or have already left one, please do let us know. We'd love to send you a letter of thanks, and, if you wish, keep you updated on how gifts like yours make a difference to patients and families. Letting us know also means we can ensure we understand and can honour your wishes fully.

If you have any questions at all about leaving a gift in your will, please call David (Cancer Fund Manager) on 07977191780, or email our team at cancerfund@uclhcharity.org.uk.