Half of us die in hospital, though 93% would not choose to and two thirds would rather be at home. Those were among the findings of the first British Social Attitudes Survey on death wishes, which also found only 11% have written down funeral wishes and just 35% have made a will. For Dying Matters Awareness Week, we used the findings to get people talking openly about dying, death and end of life care, putting the chief executive of the Dying Matters Coalition on air across a radio day of interviews. The broadcast PR campaign secured 19 items of radio coverage reaching 2.1 million, including BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Solent and BBC Radio Kent.
Dying Matters Coalition wanted to get people talking openly about dying, death and end of life care and taking practical steps like writing a will.
The message
Everyone deserves to die well, and that is more likely if we talk about it early. Discussing dying and death should become a normal part of living.
The angle
The first British Social Attitudes Survey on death wishes found half of us die in hospital, though 93% would not choose to and two thirds would rather be at home. Only 11% have written down funeral wishes and just 35% have made a will.
On air
The chief executive of the Dying Matters Coalition
The result
19 items of coverage reaching 2.1 million, including BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Lancashire.
More campaigns for Dying Matters Coalition
Dying Matters Coalition has come back to Relations Group for other broadcast PR campaigns:
Dying Matters Awareness Week is an annual UK week that encourages people to talk about dying, death and bereavement and to plan ahead. It grew out of the Dying Matters Coalition led by the National Council for Palliative Care, and it has been run by Hospice UK since the two charities merged in 2017. The 2026 week ran from 4 to 10 May. Stations plan their coverage of it in advance, which makes it a strong hook for a broadcast PR campaign.
Planning Dying Matters Awareness Week for 2027?
Dying Matters Awareness Week usually runs in early May; the 2027 dates have not yet been announced. Talk to the team about a broadcast PR campaign that gets your spokesperson on radio and TV.
