Our copyright and other forms of intellectual property are obviously protected but we have no commercial motive. We are not associated with any charity or with any of the organisations campaigning for (and against) Assisted Dying in the UK. We are not linked to any of the Assisted Dying Centres in Switzerland.
We are simply here to provide information, based upon independent visits to each of them, about the Swiss Centres – their rules, their requirements, their procedures and their costs.
Most of this Guide was written by John Watson. Aged 79, he lives in North Yorkshire and did the research during the Spring and early Summer of 2022. It is our intention to keep the website up-to-date and to record any changes as they occur.
John Watson qualified as a Solicitor when in his twenties but entered the printing industry very shortly afterwards. In 1979 he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Skipton and was then re-elected in 1983 for the new constituency of Skipton and Ripon. He did not seek re-election in 1987 but returned to industrial management. In 1992 he became Chief Executive of Bradford City Challenge Ltd and subsequently became Chair of the Bradford and District Community NHS Trust. He also served as President of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce and as a Director of the Yorkshire Building Society. Between 2005 and 2013 he was the Deputy Leader of North Yorkshire County Council and a non-executive Director of several financial services companies.
“I am a member of Dignitas and of Lifecircle. I am a paid-up supporter of Pegasos. I participate in the activities and events of My Death My Decision and of Dignity in Dying. If the situation should arise, which it might because I suffer both from Coronary Heart Disease and Melanoma, then I shall want to use the facilities of one of the Swiss end-of-life Centres. The main reason for my membership of them, however, is simply to give me the confidence that when my life is drawing to a close I shall at least still have control of it.”
When I started doing this research, I was surprised how difficult it was. There is a lot to know. The Centres’ websites provide full information but nonetheless, it is hard to distinguish the crucial differences between them. Sometimes, these are very subtle. There are also complexities of law, inheritance, eligibility, cost and travel. This Guide is simply intended to provide a degree of detail and clarity.“
John Watson
