Dying Matters Awareness Week 2020 - Dying to be heard

Dying Matters Awareness Week 2020 will run from May 11-17.

Our strapline remains Let’s Talk About It, and in the past we’ve had themes like The Big Conversation and Talk, Plan, Live. For 2020 we want to look at the other half of a conversation: how do we respond when someone wants to discuss death, or grief, or their will or funeral plans with us?

It’s too easy to dodge that conversation with a joke or a “maybe later.” But we know it’s hard for people to talk about death and the practical aspects of getting ready for it. So when someone wants to talk about death, we owe it to them to be the other half of that conversation. If they want to talk, we need to listen. 

The 2020 theme of Dying To Be Heard will focus on how to help by listening. How many people want to talk about death, but feel they have no one to talk to about it? How many people are Dying To Be Heard?

We’ll have some tips on active listening, and reassure people that you don’t need to be an expert on wills, funerals or advance care planning: the Dying Matters website has signposts to all the relevant information.

We have a complete set of new leaflets for 2020, and they are now free to download.