Our Team

Friends at the End is a Scottish Charity promoting knowledge and understanding of end of life choices and campaigning to change the law to allow Assisted Dying.

We work closely with MSPs and stakeholders, on our primary aim, which is to support the development of legislation in the Scottish Parliament, to allow Assisted Dying in Scotland.

We also provide care, compassion and companionship to those facing the end of their lives.

Friends at the End was formed in 2000 by a group of people led by Dr Libby Wilson who, until her death in March 2016, was Convenor of the organisation.

Sorcha Hume

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.

Patron

Stacey is 46 and was diagnosed with MS at 16. After graduating from the University of Paisley in 1992 she married George Adam MSP and has volunteered in his office since. Stacey’s passion for life – and St Mirren FC – are just one of her many recognisable qualities. She is a firm supporter of end of life choices and a voice to be reckoned with amongst Holyrood colleagues.
Stacey’s journey has had quite a few highs and a number of difficulties – she is a testament to the strength and determination of Scottish stoicism and we are delighted to have her as a lifelong Patron.

Patron

Dr Mary Stewart graduated from Cornell University in 1949 and was part of a small close knit group involved in the rapid development of veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow under the leadership of Sir William Weipers in the 1950s.

She was ahead of her time with her focus on the philosophical basis to ethics, animal welfare, the importance of the companion animal/human bond and the handling of bereavement.

Mary was also very supportive of the students at the Vet School and the first “Rodeo” was given its name by Mary Stewart, when, fresh from the USA, she decided that the school should have an exciting event. It continues today on an annual basis, and is a family day run by students to raise awareness of animal welfare issues, educate and raise money for charity.

A building at the University of Glasgow Garscube campus, opened in 2016, has been named the Mary Stewart Building.

Patron

Revd Dr Scott McKenna BA BD MTh MPhil PhD
I have been a parish minister in the Church of Scotland for over 25 years.   My commitment to the introduction of assisted dying legislation is rooted in compassion, pastoral concern and, wherever possible, the comfort and dignity of a good death.   The law is inconsistent and our society needs to face the moral issue of ‘allowing’ people to travel abroad to die.   In the Christian faith tradition, there is a spectrum of views on assisted dying.   While the loudest voices are often against such legislation, there are many notable exceptions.   The human need for dignity does not stop when we are dying.

Patron

Ben Colburn is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, where he has worked since 2010, including as Head of Philosophy from 2017 to 2020. Before arriving in Glasgow he studied and worked in Cambridge, receiving his PhD in 2008, and holding a research fellowship at Corpus Christi College from 2008 to 2010.

His main research interests are in political philosophy and ethics, with a particular interest in the nature and value of individual autonomy. He draws inspiration from this in his work on assisted dying legislation, as well as from his experience of collaborating with policymakers and practitioners in end of life care more generally.

The Council

Friends at the End is led by a council of nine volunteers, who bring a mix of experience and insight into end of life choices and includes:

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 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.

Trustee of Friends at the End

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.

His support for FATE is inspired by his strong belief in personal liberty. In particular the right to choose to minimise the suffering associated with some incurable illnesses.

In his personal life, David enjoys walking with his dog Rupert and attending the theatre. He is an automotive enthusiast.

Gordon Wyllie

Gordon is honourary legal counsel to Friends at the End. He is charity and trust lawyer and a former partner at Biggart Baillie and Bird Semple. Dr Wyllie served as a member of the European Commission’s Group of Experts in International Succession Law and is the chair of the Law Society of Scotland’s Trust and Succession Committee.

Gordon holds many voluntary positions including Decon Convener of the Trades of Edinburgh, a Trustee of Mediaeval Glasgow Trust, and a member of the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on End of Life Choices.

Dr. Libby Wilson

Dr. Libby Wilson was a founding member of Friends at the End helping to set up the organisation in 2000

Libby was a champion of choice, working primarily in the fields of family planning and right-to-die. The eldest of three children, she was born in Surrey to Lucy and James Bell Nicoll who had not long returned to the UK from their missionary work in Africa.

Initially working in general practice in the early 1950s she became aware of the difficulties in obtaining contraceptive advice, especially if you were unmarried. She was a founder of the 408 Clinic, one of the first family planning services available in the country for single women. In 1967 Libby moved with her family to Glasgow and worked for the Family Planning Service.

During this time Libby refused to let societal conformities stop her in her own mission of giving women of all ages, colours and classes choice over childbearing and sexual health. With her clear cut English accent and mischievous sense of humour she stepped over the thresholds and boundaries of women living in the most varied of circumstances, from dire poverty to middle-class society, and offered help and support in the form of the pill or ‘just a little jag’ of the contraceptive injection.

Following her retirement aged 64, Libby went to Sierra Leone for a year to work with Marie Stopes International and in 1997 she published a book called ‘Unexpected Always Happen’ documenting her year in Africa and in 2004 her autobiographical account of her family planning work ‘Sex on the Rates’.

On her return she became a member of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Scotland after being introduced by a friend. Later, with others, she set up Friends at the End. Through her work with Friends at the End Libby pushed for right-to-die legislation in both the Scottish Parliament and Westminster; Libby’s work with Friends at the End also saw her work with those living with incurable illnesses and conditions who wanted to explore their end of life options. Libby helped hundreds of people at the end of their lives, being a constant source of support at the end of the telephone – day or night, driving up and down the country to visit people, to help them with their medical records or to write living wills etc. She put herself out there, completely for the benefit of others, and helped countless people have a happy and peaceful death.

A regular on television and radio until her late 80s, Libby was not one to shy away from the controversy often caused by her campaigns. Instead she spoke freely about her beliefs and used the publicity to further promote her causes, always driven by the principles of allowing people to make choices about the start and end of life.

Libby went on many trips with her right to die work and was very active in the international right to die movement travelling to various world federation and European conferences ranging from Tokyo in 2004, Melbourne in 2010 and Zurich in 2012. Libby was a prominent pillar of the right to die community, she sat on the seven member board of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies from 2002-2004 and received the World Federation Health Professionals award in 2010 –this is an award given every 2 years to the healthcare professional who has set a good example to other doctors and nurses in the international right to die movement.

Libby was someone who was not afraid to stand up and be vocal about what she believed in, especially when it was a matter of principle, as the founding Patron of Friends at the End this value set ensured that the organisation went from strength to strength under her directorship and we continue to work tirelessly with her legacy at the forefront.