Our Team

Chief Executive

Dr. Sorcha Hume

Dr Sorcha Hume first became involved in the campaign to allow assisted dying in Scotland when working as a Parliamentary Researcher for Mark McDonald MSP and accompanying him to Cross Party Group meetings on End of Life Choices.  Hearing from a Canadian doctor about the importance of her work as a Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) practitioner, Sorcha gained a newfound respect for assisted dying which she advocates should, without question, be afforded to all mentally competent adults with a terminal illness.

Sorcha believes everyone has the right to a good death and maintains that this position does not compromise the provision of excellent palliative care, but instead enhances the comprehensive and compassionate options which should be made available to those facing end of life decisions.

A medical doctor by profession, Sorcha worked in a specialist palliative care unit before managing Aberdeen-based charity Charlie House, which supports the families of children with life-limiting conditions.

Sorcha is confident that Scotland will soon join the growing list of nations where assisted dying has been legalised, and looks forward to its being made available to those otherwise facing uncertainty and suffering at the end of their lives.

Chair

Peter Warren worked for 16 years in the office of Margo MacDonald MSP and assisted in the preparation of two separate Bills that would have allowed for Assisted Dying to be made legal in Scotland. He has established many international connections, working closely with legislators, campaigners and organisations that directly assist people to die with dignity.

Peter has been connected to Friends at the End for ten years and in 2017 he joined the Friends at the End Council. Currently living and working in Spain, he has been an active member of DMD Catalunya for four years, and helps with their political campaigns. During this time he has worked to forge links between Catalunya and Scotland, as both places work to legalise Assisted Dying.

Patron

Lord Jeremy Purvis is a Patron of Friends at the End.

“The opportunity for people who are coming to the end of their life to have a greater choice in the circumstances of their passing is an issue of our age. Friends at the End helps to maintain a public debate on this issue in Scotland and provides information and awareness necessary for this debate to be as informed as possible. Since I first presented a Bill in the Scottish Parliament, the first since devolution, in 2004 to change the law to allow choice at the end of life, the public debate has moved on considerably. Regrettably however the law remains un-amended and therefore the campaign must continue. Friends at the End will assist this process and it is one major reason why I am very pleased to be a major supporter of their work.”

Patron 

Melanie Reid worked for the Scotsman, Sunday Mail and the Herald before becoming a columnist for The Times. In 2010 she fell off her horse and broke her neck, becoming tetraplegic. She charts her life in the award-winning Spinal Column in The Times’ Saturday magazine and in 2019 her book The World I Fell Out Of was published.

Julie Lang

Julie was born and brought up in the west of Scotland and spent all her working life in Glasgow.  She was a physiotherapist in the NHS for forty years, as a service manager and as a specialist clinician, working in womens’ health, and with men, women and children who had pelvic floor dysfunction. When the physiotherapy profession achieved degree status, she upgraded her original diploma to a degree at the University of East London, and in 2004, completed an MSc in her clinical specialty at Glasgow Caledonian University.

She retired in 2012 and went back to university to study English literature at the University of Glasgow.  She was privileged to spend one year of her honours degree at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. In 2017 she completed her master’s degree in English Literature at Glasgow, which looked at the ways in which contemporary writers address dying and death, in fiction and in memoir.  She began her PhD in 2018, which has the working title of ‘Representing chosen death: how writers depict physician-assisted death, and suicide’.

Julie joined the Council of Friends at the End in 2017 and she is a member of the group, Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying.

Dr Charles Warlow

Is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Edinburgh. He has also worked in London, Oxford, Birmingham and Aberdeen.

He has been President of the Association of British Neurologists, Editor of Practical Neurology, a National Research Ethics Advisor, Ombudsman for The Lancet, and a member of the BMJ Publication Ethics Committee.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of all three medical Royal Colleges – London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. As well as caring for patients with neurological problems, many of whom  had a terminal illness, he did research mainly into stroke, but also motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and functional disorders of the nervous system. He has been an author on about 500 papers and has written several books.

He now combines his interest in sailing and photography by writing articles for sailing magazines and looking after a website describing what there is to see and do near the 200+ anchorages between the Mull of Kintyre and Skye.

Alison Thomson

Alison graduated as a mental health nurse in 1986, she has a particular interest and experience in medical law and ethics and completed an M.Phil. in law and ethics in medicine at Glasgow University in 2004.

Her career has been based in the public sector and her focus has been on promoting the human rights of people in relation to mental health care, treatment and support.

She has a particular interest in ensuring that high-quality person-centred palliative care is a right for everyone in Scotland, from both a professional and personal perspective.

Graeme Downie

Graeme is owner and Director of a communications company based in Edinburgh.  With over 15 years of experience in politics and media relations, working for a variety of clients from large corporates to small charities, Graeme has a track record of achieving and securing government policy change.  He worked closely with FATE during previous attempts to change the law on Assisted Dying in the Scottish Parliament and now brings that experience and knowledge to the Board.

Emma Cooper

Emma is an experienced third sector CEO and has particular expertise in organisational change, fundraising and policy. She now works for the Scottish Land Commission and is a non-executive director of the Scottish Health Council.

Emma recently joined FATE following her experience of providing palliative care for a relative. She believes that we are all entitled to a good death, as far as possible.

Moira Symons

Moira has been a member of Friends at the End since 2009, has coordinated our Tayside Group since it was set up in the summer of 2017 and has always argued loudly that assisted dying should be legally available. Her background is mostly in training, on a range of subjects and in a variety of settings. A lot of years were spent in the employability field helping people, particularly those with disabilities, to find and keep suitable jobs. She worked in the voluntary sector for 18 years until January 2017, most recently as volunteer coordinator for a small cancer charity, and is now semi-retired, mainly doing voluntary work, but occasionally getting paid to deliver Scottish Mental Health First Aid courses on a freelance basis.

David Harper

David is an accountant with experience in SMEs and third sector organisations with backgrounds in property and higher education. He has a professional interest in planning, and effective resource management.  David has been a member of FATE since 2016. He convened the Edinburgh local group in its first year. David now supports the finance and membership sub-committees.