A woman who lost both her parents to cancer is highlighting importance of leaving a gift for future generations by donating money to Cancer Research in your will. 

Becky Reilly, 43, from Stock, near Chelmsford, is urging people in Essex to follow her example.

Gifts in Wills fund over a third of Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work.

Last year, more than 210 people in Essex helped to write an end to cancer by leaving legacy gifts to the charity which raised over £5.2 million for vital research.

Becky, who works for Ford Credit, said: “It has been a terrible shock having had so many members of my family diagnosed with cancer.

"However they had always been great supporters of Cancer Research UK and that stuck with me.

“So, when Mark and I got married just under a year after my dad passed away we decided to make our Wills, and include a legacy for Cancer Research UK.

“I don’t see that I have made this decision.

"I simply see it as carrying on what my parents would have done.

"Cancer Research was always the charity that was hopefully going to make a difference and prevent somebody else’s family going through the same thing as we did.”

She added: “By leaving a gift in their Will – no matter how big or small – people in Essex can give families the incredible gift of hope.

"That’s why I’m supporting this vitally important campaign and will be leaving a legacy gift to Cancer Research UK.”

Becky, who also makes a monthly donation to Cancer Research UK, added: “I would love to think that by the time the charity comes to receive what we’ve written in our Wills that they won’t actually know what to do with the money because they’ve found a cure. That would be a lovely thing.

“But if that’s unrealistic I would like to think that by providing this money, Cancer Research UK is funding research so that people who are diagnosed with cancer can live as long as possible and have a good quality of life during that time.

“If we all contribute a little we can probably make a very big difference.”

Becky was just 19 and a student at Oxford Brookes University when cancer first hit her immediate family after her uncle Gordon on her mother’s side was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

“I was really close to him so that was a traumatic time. Sadly, he lost his battle in August 1992 just a month before his 50th birthday.”

But just four years later her mother, June, also became ill.

“She felt tired and lethargic and also had a bit of discomfort in her stomach. She went to hospital just before Christmas but was only with us for another couple of weeks after that. It was really, really quick.

"The cancer was, by then everywhere - she was only 60.

“My mum and dad had always been huge supporters of Cancer Research UK because both my mum’s parents had also had cancer.

"I think the legacy started with my uncle and then my mum because of the experience they had previously. Their feeling was that someone would benefit in the future.”

Sadly, just over a decade after her mother died, Becky’s father Ron was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away in 2008.

“He left a legacy in his Will to Cancer Research UK which was a set percentage of his estate rather than a fixed amount.

"He had always been a supporter so when Mark and I got married we decided, instead of presents, to ask people to donate to Cancer Research UK and Multiple Sclerosis, because Mark’s dad has MS. We raised about £900 for each charity. We also wanted to make a more long-term gift.

“Unless we find a way of beating cancer other people are going to go through the same scenarios.

“It’s something people don’t always think about when they’re younger, but we wanted to leave something that would perpetuate my parents’ thoughts and wishes.”

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, Cancer Research UK spent over £42 million in East Anglia last year on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

This work is wide-ranging, from understanding the causes of cancer and investigating new ways to prevent it, to detecting it earlier and developing better treatments.

Danielle Glavin, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the East, said: “Survival rates have doubled in the past 40 years and today half of those diagnosed with cancer will survive.

"But half is not enough. There are over 200 types of cancer and we won’t stop until we find cures for them all.

“The more research we are able to do the sooner that day will come and that’s why we urgently need support.

"So we’re calling on people across Essex and the East to consider including a legacy gift for Cancer Research UK in their Will and help us write an end to cancer.”

For more information about leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in your Will, visit cruk.org/WriteAnEnd or call 0800 077 66 44 for an information pack.