Dear friend,

A week ago today marked ten years since my best mate Bob Cole ended his own life at Dignitas. I haven’t stopped fighting for choice ever since.

Bob was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer caused by once working as a carpenter’s apprentice. It’s an incurable cancer and can lead to a very painful death. Sadly, he deteriorated very quickly. In his final months, not even the strongest pain relief could control his suffering. I remember him rocking in his chair, telling me, “It feels like my chest is on fire.”

Bob asked me to travel with him to Switzerland so he could die on his own terms. The journey was long and painful, but in his final moments he was smiling, listening to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

He should have been able to die in his own bed, in his own country.

I made Bob a promise - to keep fighting for compassion, choice, and dignity for dying people here in the UK.

Now, we are closer to change than ever. The Assisted Dying Bill has passed its key votes in the House of Commons and will be debated in the House of Lords on 12 September. This could be the breakthrough moment we’ve waited decades for - but only if we have the resources to win.

That’s why I’m asking you, from the bottom of my heart: if you believe no one should suffer as Bob did, please join Dignity in Dying today as a member. Your support will help us mobilise people across the country, put pressure on Peers, and keep the fight for compassion alive until we win.