Living for the present, planning for the future.
All of us worry about death and dying at some point, and we all have experience of it; but when the time comes for urgent decisions, it can be hard to find the words.
Only 7 % of us have recorded our wishes and preferences for the care we would like at the end of our lives.
Gentle Dusk is a socially-minded organisation raising awareness of the importance of end of life care planning. Through our training courses, workshops and support services, we aim to bring as much compassion as possible to death, dying and bereavement.
We help people to document their emergency and future care wishes, financial and legal affairs. We want to help improve the quality of life for anyone facing death, for their loved ones and the health professionals involved in their care.
At Gentle Dusk we believe that open and honest planning for the future doesn’t have to be scary. It doesn’t have to be sad. These conversations can be gentle, calm, reassuring and empowering – and we can help you get started.
What We Do
Gentle Dusk works with individuals, the NHS, and private and voluntary sectors across the UK.
We offer a range of training courses for health and social care professionals, and for the general public to gain skills and confidence initiating difficult conversations. We also explore the practicalities of end of life care planning.
Our bespoke workshops can help institutions strengthen the resources and support they offer to their staff, clients and wider networks.
Through our flagship Future Matters service, Gentle Dusk partners with community organisations and the NHS to provide free support for local residents planning their future.
Gentle Dusk also hosts regular events, including Death Cafés. Open conversation about death, dying and bereavement, with some tea and cake, can help us all to think about the kind of life we want – as well as our end of life wishes.
Our Team
We are a small team of paid staff and volunteers, with a range of experiences from service improvement through to training, counselling, project management and communications. We share a commitment to improving the resources, training and support available in the UK for issues relating to death, dying and end of life care.
Our Partners
Partnership is at the heart of Gentle Dusk’s approach. We believe that it is a privilege to be able to discuss death, dying bereavement and hear others’ wishes for their own future, and our partnerships always begin with listening, transparency and a commitment to collaboration.
Here are some of the organisations we work with. Click below on each Partners Company Logo to learn more about how these partnerships are helping to meet individuals’ and communities’ specific needs
Age UK Islington (AUKI) has been a Future Matters service delivery partner in Islington since 2013. It is currently funded by North Central London CCG.
Gentle Dusk trains AUKI volunteers to support more than 200 Islington residents a year in completing an advance care plan or setting up Lasting Powers of Attorney. Together we develop free resources and host events tailored to the needs of the Islington community – for instance Carers’ Rights Day in 2021 meeting residents where they are, with one-to-one services that aren’t freely available to them anywhere else.
“Although relatively new to Age UK Islington and joining at a time that was both challenging and immensely inspiring, one of the areas I was keen to understand better was the Future Matters service, run in partnership with Gentle Dusk. I was greatly impressed with the innovative and flexible approach both the staff and volunteers adopted in delivering both end of life support and future planning. Together, Age UK Islington and Gentle Dusk were able to provide clients, carers and professionals with a range of educational and informative workshops on subjects such as Lasting Power of Attorney and Coordinate My Care, alongside the one to one client support to put together plans for the future. I look forward to continuing the long-established partnership.”
As part of their Compassionate Employers programme, Hospice UK commissioned Gentle Dusk to develop a series of training workshops and webinars about Bereavement, Caring and Terminal Illness. These are now being delivered by the Gentle Dusk’s senior team to businesses across the UK.
“Mireille Hayden has in-depth knowledge about the topic of death, dying and bereavement. She is solution orientated and has worked collaboratively with Hospice UK to develop our bereavement workshops. She is passionate about the subject matter. During our Bereavement workshops she has delivered a wonderful balance of theory and practical advice as well as draw on her clinical experience to engage compassionately with workshop attendees”
Memorial Woodlands approached Gentle Dusk in 2019 after their staff had attended the Gentle Dusk Future Matters training. Initially commissioned to develop and deliver a lecture on Talking about Dying, Gentle Dusk now runs a series of training, seminar and events on end of life care, end of life care planning and bereavement. These events are then offered for free to local health, social care and community professionals as well as members of the public.
“Mireille of Gentle Dusk has led the training at Memorial Woodlands for over two years and has provided an excellent service and is a pleasure to work with.”
Macmillan and Gentle Dusk have joined forces to deliver the Future Matters service to cancer patients in Haringey. Information and support is made available to cancer patients around holistic needs assessment and end of life care planning. Webinars, professional briefings, death café’s and one to one appointments are being delivered to support end of life care conversations and advance care planning.
St Christopher’s were keen to set up a service to support the local community around conversations about death, dying and bereavement. Gentle Dusk supported St Christophers to implement a service similar to Future Matters and offered them advice on strategic and implementations plans, recruitment, advertising and monitoring. Gentle Dusk also delivered their Future Matters training to the team and project volunteers. Evaluation of the learning evidenced that the volunteers had gained confidence through the programme.
Gentle Dusk are good partners to work with, the quality of education delivery and materials is high, with good outcomes for the volunteers and our organisation.”
Gentle Dusk and Wellcome Collection collaborated on running a series of death café’s to support visitors to talk freely about death, dying and bereavement. Gentle Dusk and their team of Death Café facilitators supported participants to discuss end of life in a friendly, informal and supported way.
The feedback was excellent and incredibly positive.
“It exceeded my expectations, which were high. Other people’s views/perspectives were both fascinating and helpful”
“Positive experience of being welcomed and open-minds”
“This was extremely helpful, especially since I’m still dealing with heavy grief. The people in my group were just amazing”
“Such a supportive environment, a reassuring facilitator”
