A campaign encouraging parents to make plans for their children's inheritance should they die prematurely has been launched by the Childhood Bereavement Network and is sponsored by insurer Ellipse.
The campaign, Plan If is encouraging parents to put in place both practical plans, such as wills, insurance and guardianship plans, as well as personal items such as family stories and letters.
A survey of 2000 parents with children aged 0-17 launched as part of the campaign revealed that 73% of parents of young children do not have an up to date will, while the same amount think it is important to have one. Half of parents have no plans in place for the guardianship of their children.
It is estimated that a parent dies leaving dependent children every 22 minutes in the UK, by the age of 16 one in twenty young people will have had a parent die.
At the launch of Plan If at St Mary Le Bow in London, speakers included several of those involved in creating the project including Sacha Richardson of the Childhood Bereavement Network.
The Childhood Bereavement Network is a national organisation for charities working with bereaved children such as Winston's Wish.
John Ritchie, CEO of Ellipse, spoke about Plan If at its launch and why Ellipse has sponsored and supported it, saying: "The peer group work that goes on through some of these great organisations in the Childhood Bereavement Network is just terrific.
"It's a real message of optimism there is a good way to help families, to help the surviving parent, to introduce the kids to other kids in a safe setting and to educate teachers and people in schools.
"Life insurance is incredibly efficient - it works well. Sometimes you need money in order to have time and for the surviving parent that's really, really important, the money gives you choices.
Ritchie concluded: "We think this is a great thing. It's an education piece - we're delighted to be sponsoring it, delighted to be supporting it and we wish it all good fortune."
