Supporting people to die with dignity.
Friends at the End SCIO works to increase public knowledge about end of life choices and supports people to die with dignity.
In this section
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Our team
The trustees and staff behind Friends at the End.
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Our services
The information and support we offer to help people make informed decisions about the end of their lives.
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Frequently asked questions
Find out more about assisted dying and end of life choices.
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Contact us
Get in touch with the Friends at the End team.
We provide comfort and support to those suffering distress towards the end of their lives. Our team can also help with documents including advance directives, advance care statements and powers of attorney.
Our long-term aim is to see assisted dying legislation passed in Scotland. We supported Liam McArthur MSP in the development of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. Sadly, the Bill fell at the final stage at the end of the last session of Parliament.
The Board of Trustees has taken time since then to consider the way ahead. Our AGM later in the year will be an opportunity for forward planning. We have already agreed that FATE will support Miles Briggs MSP when he brings forward his proposed Palliative Care Bill in the autumn.
What else we do
- Host knowledge-sharing events about end of life issues.
- Support legal cases on assisted dying taken forward by individuals.
- Provide legal advice on assisted dying legislation, including helping to prepare three parliamentary bills in Scotland.
- Invest in academic research to increase knowledge and awareness of end of life choices, including a scholarship for Dr Amanda Ward’s PhD thesis, which provides the legal and philosophical framework for the current proposal.
- Help local support and campaigning groups for assisted dying legislation. Want to get involved? Become a member.
- Work with partner organisations in the third, private and public sectors who support end of life care.
- Sponsor, in partnership with Dignity in Dying and Humanist Society Scotland, Dr Amanda Ward (recognised as the expert on Scots law on assisted dying) as Research and Legal Advisor on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
We formed as a voluntary society in 2000 and received charitable status in 2018. We are a registered charity in Scotland, SC048875.
Our consultation responses
Friends at the End regularly writes consultation responses based on the views of our wide-ranging membership. They are submitted to the Scottish and UK Governments, committees of the Scottish and UK Parliaments, and others who can influence policy, such as the Law Commission.
- Response to the Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership (Scotland) Bill 2020
- Response to the Scottish Government Coronavirus Framework for Decision Making
- Adults with Incapacity Act consultation response, April 2018
- Submission to the Human Rights Committee of the Scottish Parliament
- Scottish Law Commission response
- Summary of written evidence to the Health and Sport Committee on the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill 2015
Annual accounts and constitution
“The act of dying is one of the acts of life.”