Future Matters is Gentle Dusk’s community-based solution for strengthening advance care planning in the U.K.
We partner with local organisations to set up Future Matters services, reaching people where they are, with the information and support they need to plan their futures.
Our Future Matters training course equips volunteers with knowledge, skills and tools to deliver one-to-one support for residents planning their emergency and advance care wishes, financial and legal affairs.
Every Future Matters service is tailored to the local community. As well as advice and planning, Future Matters partners deliver a range of accessible events that inform and empower people to voice their choices.
Access the service
Planning ahead can help to avoid stress when it comes to managing the health and financial affairs of those that are closest to us.
We are here to help you plan for the emergency and future care wishes, and your financial and legal affairs.
The Future Matters Service team can help you:
- To organise your Lasting Powers of Attorney
- To develop your unique Advance Care Plans
- To plan your Will
- To plan your Funeral
“Future Matters provides creative ways to engage with the often taboo topic of death and dying and Death Cafés in particular it can bring about surprising connection to self and others too”
Dr Beth Griggs – GP Clerkenwell Practice
Our Future Matters programme is expanding across the U.K. and is currently active in the following areas:
Location: Islington
Partners: Age UK Islington
Telephone: 0207 281 6018
Email: gethelp@ageukislington.org.uk
Healthcare Professionals contact: judith.king7@nhs.net
This service is for Islington residents only.
Click here to visit Age UK Islington’s website.
Click here to read personal accounts from Islington residents who discovered the value of having end of life plans in place.
Future Matters appointments with our expert team are available throughout the UK. Please contact Gentle Dusk here and we will get in touch to discuss your needs and how we can support you.
Click here to read the Future Matters Service – Islington 2022-23 Annual Report.
Commission
Choice is considered a key indicator of quality in end of life care – but across the U.K. we still hear too many stories of people’s choices relating to end of life care not being heard, shared or met, and of people having neither control nor high quality care.
Click here to visit the Government’s ‘Choice in End of Life Care’ Report.
Future Matters joins dots across the clinical, legal and social spaces which are essential for effective and integrated advance care planning.
Through honest conversations, clear information and support from knowledgeable, compassionate and well-trained volunteers, the Future Matters service supports NHS and community efforts to deliver good experiences and outcomes for all people planning for the future or facing end of life care.
First commissioned by NHS London in 2010 for implementation across North Central London in Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington; the Future Matters programme has benefitted from continued monitoring, development and improvement.
Gentle Dusk can support implementation of a Future Matters service through local delivery partners anywhere in the U.K.
We can also facilitate Future Matters training as a standalone package, with license and a train-the-trainer component.
When more people are cared for in their preferred place, there are fewer inappropriate hospital admissions and reduced hospital costs.
For more information on commissioning Future Matters, please contact Gentle Dusk by clicking here.
Volunteer
When it comes to planning for the future, every person is different, and so is every community.
That’s why Future Matters is always community-based, powered by trained volunteers who become trusted champions for advance care planning within their local areas.
As a volunteer you will support members of the public as they put advance care plans, wills, powers of attorney and funeral plans in place. You will help them share these plans with the people who will care for them.
You can also deliver workshops, talks, run Death Cafés and a range of events around the year, including Dying Matters Week, supported by Gentle Dusk and your local Future Matters service.
To register your interest in training as a Future Matters volunteer, please contact Gentle Dusk.
For more information about the Future Matters training programme, click here.
