What is Advance Care Plan Day?
Advance Care Plan Day is the UK’s national day or awareness and action dedicated to advance care planning. There are lots of ways to learn, share information and empower societal change.
The second national day highlighting the importance of Advance Care Planning
On the 7th May 2025 the second national Advance Care Planning Day will take place across the United Kingdom. This annual day of action and awareness will highlight the importance of Advance Care Planning and encourage society to document, share and discuss their wishes. It builds upon the incredible success and impact of the first National Advance Care Plan Day in 2024.
There are a number of ways in which the general public and professionals can get involved in the weeks leading up to the national day and on the day itself.
Host your own ACP Day event
We encourage professionals and those with lived experience to host their own event. Events will be listed on the national website and the Advance Care Plan Day team will help promote your event ahead of time. Click here to list and host your own event
Language Matters
We are engaging with all nations across the UK. We have also developed a range of sharing assets with terminology used in each nation.
If you live in Scotland and host a ‘Future Care Plan Day’ event or you live in Wales and host a ‘Advance & Future Care Plan Day’ event we will list and promote it with the terminology relevant to the communities you serve.
This year’s national conference will conclude with a panel discussion about the different approaches to advance care planning between the nations. A representative from each nation will be contributing. ‘Language and terminology’ will be explored
National Conference
The national conference returns to Norfolk. Last year’s sold out conference welcomed 320 in person attendees and thousands watched the live stream.
This year’s conference speakers include Dr. Christian R. Ntizimira, Evie King, Celia Kitzinger, Clare Fuller and Vicki Caldwell. The conference is free to attend in person. It is also free to access the live stream. Last year organisations across the globe had ‘watch party’s’ at their place of work. We encourage you to host such an event should you wish to do so. To reserve a physical ticket, setup a watch party or reserve a virtual ticket click here.
Making a pledge and empowering others
Both the general public and professionals can pledge to complete one or more advance care planning tasks. Pledges can be shared on social media for accountability, conversation and awareness.
Pledge cards are available on the website individually. The complete set of cards can be found in this year’s resource pack.
Empowering others can take place in a number of ways. This includes raising awareness of the day ahead of time and sharing prompt cards. Prompt cards outline some of the components of Advance Care Planning. Sharing helps cards help raise awareness, reflection and action.
Through education and social participation, an increased number of Advance Care Planning tasks such as documentation and important discussions will take place in the weeks and months leading up to the day and on the day itself.
Share your story
Those wanting to submit their own Advance and Future Care Planning stories (both good and bad) are encouraged to share them for publication if they wish to do so. The sharing of stories helps us all learn what we are doing well and how we can improve.
Podcasts
The first ACP Day 2025 podcast is now live and available in the resources section. A number of further ACP Day podcasts will be released ahead of the national day for awareness and action. These draw on our experiences of care planning, the awareness day and insights obtained from both professionals and the general public.
ACP Day Team
ACP Day 2025’s core team consists of James Norris founder of MyWishes & The Digital Legacy Association. Digital Research Fellow at Harlington Hospice. Dani Ayre, Palliative Care Educator at Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Clare Fuller, Advance Care Planning advocate, coach and educator at Speak For Me LPA.
Self-empowerment
The best way to ensure that your unique, end of life wishes are adhered to, is to document and discuss them. You are welcome to use MyWishes to assist.
We are a ‘tech for good’ service and everything is free to use. To learn how it works click here.
Michael Sobell Hospice Palliative Care Department Mount Vernon Hospital, Gate 3 Northwood HA6 2RN United Kingdom (Map)
- Register and document your wishes for free here
- For all enquires click here
- To learn how MyWishes works click here
MyWishes free to use software was developed under the guidance of healthcare, hospice, legal and funeral professionals. Our platform empowers society to make plans for both themselves and those they care about.
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