National Trust earnings from wills leaps by a fifth

THE National Trust made an extra £10million in income from wills this year, its official figures show.

Numbers released to The Daily Telegraph in the run-up to the group’s annual report show that the sum left to the charity in legacies rose from £51million in 2016 to £61million this year.

Its overall income from donations including gifts and legacies rose from £62.5million to £73million from 2016 to 2017, it said, adding that it was unable to say why the increase had taken place. Its membership hit five million for the first time. Visitor numbers were 24.5million.

The number of people leaving some money in their wills to a charity had almost doubled, figures released earlier this month revealed, prompting the Charity Commission to remind charities to fund-raise “ethically”. The increase in legacy giving has been attributed by experts to a rise in wealth in the country and to its tax efficiency.