Good afternoon friend,

My name is Molly and I work in Dignity in Dying’s media team. I joined Dignity in Dying almost a year ago, leaving my job as a senior journalist on national newspapers to campaign for law change. Back then, I was a Soaps Reporter.

Dignity in Dying has been working with ITV on a new Emmerdale storyline that will show the soap’s millions of viewers the devastating impact of the blanket ban on assisted dying. 

Soaps hold up a mirror to modern life – they cut through the headlines and spark important conversations about what matters to people. If you’ve been watching Emmerdale in the last couple of weeks, you will have seen a powerful plot line unfold in which Faith Dingle, dying of terminal breast cancer, decides to take her own life. Faith has shared her concerns that as her cancer worsens she could be in pain, become unable to communicate, lose control and lose who she is, despite the best efforts of palliative care. 

Through Faith’s storyline, Emmerdale is reflecting what hundreds of terminally ill Brits face every year under the ban on assisted dying. I know first-hand the impact that telling these stories on a national stage can have and it was so encouraging that Emmerdale came to us to help tell this important story. It’s through work like this that we can shift the cultural dial – this is a choice hundreds of dying people face every year and it is a privilege to give them a voice through Faith’s story. 

The Dignity in Dying media team advised on the scripts and provided research and personal testimony. We introduced the Emmerdale team to our supporter Steve Jetley, whose late wife Tina Humphrey took her own life in 2017 at the age of 45 while dying of an aggressive skin cancer that had spread throughout her body.

This isn’t just a dramatic soap storyline. This is something that is happening in this country right now. And we all know the power plotlines like this can have – they create momentum, normalise the case for change, and, ultimately, can drive issues up the political agenda. 

It’s so great to be able to finally tell you about this piece of work – it’s been in the pipeline for so long and it’s so exciting to share it with you. 

You can catch up on Faith's story by watching the episodes on ITV Hub from the 23rd, 26th and 27th September. If you get a chance, do tune in and watch the storyline play out over the next couple of weeks and follow the conversation on social media.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support – we couldn’t have this impact without you.