South Warwickshire café where the talk will be about death
Remember, you will die. There’s no getting around it, which is the reason an event in Shipston will be getting more people to break down the taboos of talking about death.
The Death Café, which takes place on Saturday, 25th September, aims to offer a ‘surprisingly life-affirming conversation about death, and how we make the most of our one, precious life’.
It’s not an easy subject to approach, the organisers admit, but it is an important one for families to tackle.
The café is being hosted by Compassionate Communities, and Omega, two organisations that operate in the field of death, dying and bereavement.
Kerry Shields, community development worker, told the Herald that Death Cafés are run in 78 countries across the world.
“This was an idea from a gentleman who started it at his home in London – he felt there needed to be a place where people could come and talk about death because it’s something we don’t discuss,” Kerry said.
“It’s not a bereavement or counselling session. It’s thinking about what will happen after your death. It’s getting people to open up and have those conversations and make them part of a normal day.”
At Shipston’s Death Café there will be representatives from Compassionate Communities and Omega who will join people for a cup of coffee and a chat.
“It’s just about talking, a conversation about what people would like at their own funeral and getting it written down somewhere,” Kerry continued.
There are lots of things to think about, including social media accounts – who has access to them and who can close them – passwords and pin numbers.
“It’s about opening people’s minds, getting them to think about those things and during the conversations getting people to share their thoughts about what they would like to happen after they die,” Kerry said.
The Shipston Death Café takes place from 10.30am till 12.30pm at Townsend Hall in Sheep Street. You can register for a place at https://tinyurl.com/2zanmbs. Find out more at https://deathcafe.com.
