To Absent Friends Evaluation 2017

To Absent Friends Evaluation 2017

To Absent Friends is a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance that takes place across Scotland from 1-7 November each year. It was created by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and Good Life Good Death Good Grief to provide people with an opportunity to remember those who have died yet remain important to them.

In 2017, the To Absent Friends festival took place all over Scotland, with public events from Caithness in the north to Dumfries & Galloway in the south, as well as social media and online activity, and private reflection.

Good Life Good Death Good Grief has now produced an evaluation report that summarises and reflects on activity that took place as part of the 2017 Festival.

Key findings include:

• 45 To Absent Friends events took place across Scotland
• 100% of event organisers said they were “extremely” or “quite likely” to hold an event again
• 96% of survey respondents found it helpful to have opportunities to remember those who had died
• 62% said they found being part of a community was one of the most valuable aspects of To Absent Friends

The full report is available for download:

To Absent Friends 2017 Evaluation Report