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The UK's only awards recognising professionals and teams across the whole legacy giving sector 

The Legacy Giving Awards 2026 will celebrate the outstanding achievements, talent, and dedication of UK legacy giving professionals, and highlight the vital impact that gifts in wills have on charities.  

Now in its 4th year, these unique awards aim to inspire charities and their partners to think bigger, aim higher, and raise the profile of the incredible work carried out by professionals within their organisations. The awards also provide a platform to benchmark progress, foster collaboration, and encourage innovation across the sector.

New for 2026: Our new format afternoon event will begin with ample time for networking, followed by exclusive learning and inspiration from on-stage experts, and conclude with the awards ceremony, highlighting excellence and achievement across the sector.  

Attendees will gain inspiration from award-winning initiatives, engage in discussion about the future of legacy giving, and connect with the sector’s community to share ideas, pride, and ambition. The afternoon will provide significant time to meet industry experts who work alongside the sector, along with time to catch up with your peers and colleagues from legacy fundraising, all in a wonderful venue in Central London. 

VIEW THE 2025 WINNERS

Why Enter?

Winning a Smee & Ford Legacy Giving Award is a prestigious achievement for individuals, teams, projects and partnerships that recognises excellence, innovation and impact. It helps with:

  • ​​​​​Improving your profile in the sector: Position yourself and your organisation as leaders in legacy giving, help inform the sector by sharing your contributions and insights, enhance your organisations reputation and attract the best talent to your organisation.
  • Securing Senior Leadership buy-in by highlighting the excellence, agility and success of your legacy giving strategy with your senior leaders and peers.
  • Boosting team morale: These awards bring together teams and individuals to celebrate exemplary skills and giving people a boost to help them go back to demanding workloads with a renewed sense of purpose and positivity.

Our judges are carefully selected from across the legacy fundraising sector to offer their wide-ranging knowledge and considerable expertise, allowing entrants to benefit from useful feedback from a diverse panel of sector specialists. 

Register your interest for 2026

"Good learning in the morning, excellent networking and showcasing the depth and breadth of legacy fundraising in the afternoon "
Rachel Hedley
St Christopher's Hospice
"Wonderful ambiance, food was lovely and very well organized "
2024
Attendee
"A fantastic experience from start to finish and thoroughly enjoyed by all the team! "
2024
Attendee
"A privilege to spend the afternoon in a room full or remarkable individuals. "
Sally Redmond
Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund
"I felt very well looked-after and the awards were a positive and high-quality celebratory event "
Matthew Crothers
St Peter's Hospice
"Brilliant! Just like a family reunion of like minded people celebrating the achievements of the sector! "
Gaynor Lanceley
Shakespeare Martineau LLP
"Excellent. This was a much needed opportunity to socialise with colleagues in my team and to also celebrate and recognise the work we do. "
Daisy
Shelter
"It was enjoyable and good for team building "
Grace Margaret Cunningham
North West Air Ambulance Charity
"A great chance to celebrate and appreciate what we have done, rather than looking at what we need to do. "
2024
Attendee
"Fantastic day of celebration and collaboration. "
2024
Attendee
"A fantastic afternoon, exceptional service, excellent venue, brilliant host "
2024
Attendee
"Very slick event, great entertainment and supportive feel in the room. "
Laura Summerbell
RNLI
"It was a great afternoon, lots of opportunity to network and celebrate success, with a great meal too! "
2024
Attendee
"Heart warming, great chance to meet new and known faces and to be inspired by others work to take back and inspire future work of my charity. "
Katy Burke
Wiltshire Air Ambulance
"The awards are a wonderful way to acknowledge outstanding efforts in the field of legacy giving. The occasion is always wonderful to be a part of. "
Carolyn Jones
University of Liverpool
See all testimonials