s.owens's blog

 by Gemma Allen, Dying Matters Dudley/ The Mary Stevens Hospice

Why is talking about death and dying such an uncomfortable topic?

Why we are happy to share birth stories with near strangers, yet not speak openly about end of life wishes?

Is it the fear of upsetting others, or superstition of tempting fate?

Norwich School are welcoming pupils in Year 8, 9 and 10 across our region to take part in a creative writing project in partnership with Dying Matters. Young people are invited to produce a piece of writing as a response to the prompt “I Wish We’d Spoken Earlier”.

By Gary Andrews
 

I was an only child and both my parents died by the time I was 31. It was too soon to lose them but I grieved in the ‘normal’ way and life went on. A few years later I met and married Joy, the woman of my dreams: tall, funny, kind clever and beautiful - I had no idea what she saw in me (short, balding, 15 years older) but I was happy she obviously saw something! We had 2 gorgeous children and our own company. Life was pretty idyllic.

This blog post is written from an American perspective. If you or anyone you know are in the New York area, then East End Doula Care can provide support
 

by Susan Capurso

Commissioning a memorial to celebrate the life of a loved one can be the hardest task facing us, but it can also be the most rewarding. The Lettering Arts Trust can help you find an artist to create a memorial designed and carved by hand, whether a traditional headstone, or a sculpture for your garden.  Working with an artist, your memorial will be a piece of solemn beauty and a truly personal reflection of the lost life.

If people who have a passion for something come together and work collaboratively, in partnership and with that passion at the heart of that they do then much more can be achieved collectively than the sum of individual activities. Our Staffordshire Dying Matters week in May this year is an example of this.

Within Derbyshire, we are building our compassionate communities and enhancing our partnership working across a range of acute, community, voluntary, charitable and educational services within Derbyshire Alliance for End of Life Care. This partnership of organisations across Derbyshire supports education and quality within end of life care.

The theme ‘what can you do’ for Dying Matters Awareness 2018 enabled the members of the Derbyshire Alliance to hold different events in their organisations, supported by the group.

The Gateshead Specialist Palliative Care Team are delighted to report that “Dying Matters” week, 14^th – 20^th May 2018, was a resounding success.

We held our first ‘Death Café’ in partnership with Age UK in their shop in Gateshead. The objective of this was to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives. This was well attended by the general public where a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes took place.