Two Brentwood solicitors have been recognised and rewarded by Cancer Research UK for facilitating over £2m worth of legacy gifts from those choosing to support the charity in their Will since they joined the charity’s Free Will Service back in 2002.

Both Sarah Harris of Sanders Witherspoon LLP and Claire Flood of Claire Flood solicitors in Brentwood were presented with a special certificate to acknowledge their tremendous support in securing such vital funds.

Cancer Research UK relies heavily on people leaving gifts in their Wills to continue its life-saving work. Over a third of its research into finding better ways to treat, diagnose and prevent cancer is funded through legacy giving.

The charity’s Regional Legacy Manager for Essex, Rebecca Baguley, said: “We all reach a stage at some point in our lives when we start to look ahead and consider what will happen to our financial affairs when we’re no longer around.

“At Cancer Research UK we work with a number of local solicitors to offer a free Will service to anyone aged 55 or over, enabling individuals to make an all-important first Will or update an existing Will.

“The service is becoming more and more popular and while it is provided free of any obligation, the vast majority of people choose to leave a gift to the charity as they appreciate the progress we are making and our absolute determination to keep more families together for longer.”

Sanders Witherspoon LLP has been partnering with Cancer Research UK over the past 13 years and throughout this time it has enabled many people to fulfil their wish of remembering the charity in their Will raising over £1.3m in future pledged income.

Claire Flood Solicitors has also been partnering with Cancer Research UK for 13 years and has raised over £825,000 in that time as well – making a combined total of more than £2.1m towards future research from just these two Brentwood firms alone.

Cancer Research UK’s Regional Legacy Manager, Rebecca Baguley added: “Sarah and Claire might just tell you that they and their colleagues are only doing their job in helping people to plan their affairs and support the charity of their choice.

"But it goes far beyond that.

“Both firms have become well informed about Cancer Research UK’s work and are very supportive of the progress we’re making.

"Whenever their clients express a desire to support us, the firms act with great sensitivity as they explain the various options and allow individuals or families to make the right choice in their own good time.

“It’s quite astonishing to think that by simply combining enthusiasm with the highest professional standards, Sanders Witherspoon LLP and Claire Flood Solicitors has helped to secure such incredible future income from client legacy gifts, all of which will go a long way towards helping our scientists, doctors and nurses bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.”

Research has been responsible for saving nearly 520,000 lives in the UK since the 1980s and as the advances accelerate, Cancer Research UK is already laying the foundations for the next generation of cancer treatments that will save millions of lives worldwide.

Progress in research has seen survival rates for children’s cancer more than double since the 1960s and men with testicular cancer having close to a 100 per cent chance of beating the disease. And women diagnosed with breast cancer are now twice as likely to survive their disease as those diagnosed 40 years ago.

Sarah Harris of Sanders Witherspoon LLP, said: “We are really very proud to receive this special recognition from Cancer Research UK.

"It is a truly inspiring charity which has been responsible for many of the key advances that have been made in the fight against cancer over recent decades and it continues to look ahead, pushing the boundaries of medical science.

Claire Flood of Claire Flood Solicitors, added: “To have played a small part in enabling such incredible potential for even greater progress in the years ahead is an honour and a privilege, as so many of us are touched by this awful disease.

"I hope to continue to offer the Cancer Research UK Free Will Service for many years to come as I am extremely proud to support such a worthwhile cause.”

Cancer Research UK spends around £44m on world class research in East Anglia every year.

This includes ongoing work at the Cambridge Research Institute which brings together over 250 specialist scientists with expertise in breast, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal, blood and prostate cancers at one of the largest cancer research facilities in Europe.

For more information about leaving a legacy gift to Cancer Research UK visit www.cruk.org/freewillservice or call Regional Legacy Manager, Rebecca Baguley on 01778 423706 or email rebecca.baguley@cancer.org.uk