What is this?

On the first working Monday of every month (Monday is one of my busiest days) I will donate the daily income of Chocolate Tortoise to a selected charity, and post to this blog detailing the charity chosen. This blog is not intended to tell the world how generous I am. I am less generous than many people. The blog is intended to firstly log who I have donated to, and secondly to hopefully inspire others to do the same, or similar. For more information, see my first post.

Saturday 7 January 2017

December 2016 - Dignity in Dying

The chosen charity for December 2016 is Dignity in Dying.


This charity has been in the news recently as another person (Noel Conway) is campaigning for the right to choose to die in a respectful manner, rather than suffer long term pain. His campaign is supported by this charity, and I wanted to give my support to their cause.

For my Donate A Day, I usually steer clear of charities that could be seen as contentious, since the charities I donate to are visible to others, especially so on my home page for my Chocolate Tortoise business. A campaign to allow people who have long-term terminal illnesses to be helped to die when they choose can be seen as contentious by some, and I suspect I will put a few people off by voicing support for them. However, it is a cause I strongly support.

I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the case - others can express those sides of the argument far better and more eloquently than I, and I doubt anything I write will change anyone's mind. Suffice to say that after spending the last year close to someone with onset dementia (my mother), it has brought thoughts of my own later years to my mind. I do not want to spend the last years of my life as an imposition on anyone, in constant pain or being unable to express myself. It does not mean I would want to take my life, but I would want to have the choice. The choice needs to be made thoughtfully, protection given to avoid impulsive decisions etc, but I would want it to be an option. Presently it is not an option in this country, and friends and family who may help me run the risk of being treated as criminals. I don't think this is right. I am not pro-assisted-dying, I am pro-choice-for-assisted-dying.

The name of the charity sums it up well: "Dignity in Dying".

See their website here: www.dignityindying.org.uk/.