Nearly a third of over-55s would consider leaving a gift to a charity in their wills, but an alarming percentage have failed to write a will in the first place.

Research conducted by YouGov for Barnardo’s found that 32 per cent of people aged over 55 would be willing to leave a legacy, and was hailed by Ginny Harris, the charity’s wills marketing manager, as showing that public campaigns to debunk the misconception that leaving a legacy was the preserve of the wealthy are working.

"This is very encouraging as in the past only 15 per cent of wills have had a donation to charity,” she said. 

These latest figures are an improvement from the annual Wills and Trusts Research Report, released by Standard Life in January, which found that around a quarter of the population might consider making a bequest.

But a lack of education about the importance of wills persists, with 29 per cent of adults in the age bracket not having made a will and a quarter believing that, without one, the money will end up with their families anyway.