The Last Word Project – A Final Gift of Story

My name is John Hopkins, and I am in the final stages of terminal cancer. Since 2018 I’ve been fighting this disease, and in 2024 I was told it had spread to my spine, colon, and hip. I don’t know how much time I have left — but I do know what I want to do with it.

I want to tell my story.

And I want to help others tell theirs.

What Is The Last Word Project?

The Last Word is a project to create deeply personal, biographical films for people in their last year of life. It begins with my own story — my childhood, my battles, my mistakes, my transformation, my 33 years of sobriety, my work in recovery, my love for my children, and my fierce, unshakeable love for my grandchildren.

This is my chance to leave them something real.

Something honest.

Something that will outlive me.

A love letter in the form of a film.

But this project isn’t just about me.

There are countless people across the UK who, like me, are facing the end — many with no way to capture their memories, wisdom, humour, or the true essence of who they were. Families are left with photos and fragments, but rarely the person’s voice, their story, their heart.

The Last Word Project will offer terminally ill people a chance to create a film of their life story — a legacy their families can keep forever.

Why This Matters

When you’re told you’re terminal, the world becomes very small and very precious. You start thinking not about dying, but about what remains when you’re gone.

I’ve spent my life helping others recover, rebuild, and rediscover hope. But now I want to help people do something even more primal:

To be remembered.

To be known.

To say the things they never got to say.

These films will become priceless treasures for families — a way for grandchildren to meet the grandparent they never got the chance to grow up knowing. A way for spouses to hear the voice they loved. A way for children to revisit their parent’s laughter, their wisdom, their quirks, their humanity.

What Your Donation Supports

Your contribution will help build a small but powerful charity project that can:

Professionally film and edit biographical documentaries

Travel to people’s homes or hospices

Provide cameras, sound, lighting, and editing equipment

Train volunteers and filmmakers to gently guide people through telling their story

Create secure, private digital and physical copies for families

Support families who cannot afford to pay for such a precious service

This project begins with my story — but it will not end with me.

Your support will help build something that continues long after I am gone.

A Love Letter to My Grandchildren

My grandchildren will never fully remember the sound of my voice or the things I want to tell them about life, courage, mistakes, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

This film will be my letter to them.

And I want other families to have that gift too.

How You Can Help

Whether it’s £5 or £500, every donation helps us capture a life story that would otherwise be lost. You can help someone have their last word, and leave behind something beautiful.

If you cannot donate, please consider sharing this campaign.

You may never know whose life you save from being forgotten.

Thank you — from the bottom of my heart — for helping me bring The Last Word Project to life.

— John Hopkins

Founder, The Last Word Project

A man with a story worth telling — and a mission to help others tell theirs.