Following the success of last year’s event, Longfield Community Hospice and Family Tree Funeral Company are teaming up again to tackle the taboo surrounding death and dying. The event will take place as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week and will offer free sessions based around the question: Are you in a good place to die?
The event will be held from 10.30am – 5pm on Wednesday, May 4th. The first three sessions will be held virtually, via Zoom. There will also be the opportunity to attend a face-to-face Death Café at Longfield’s Minchinhampton base from 3.30 – 5pm.
Guests can choose from four different sessions, or book for the entire day. Anyone can sign up – no prior connection with Longfield Hospice or Family Tree is required.
Speakers include best-selling author and palliative care doctor, Kathryn Mannix, medical experts and funeral directors. The face-to-face Death Café session will offer people the chance to come together to discuss all aspects of death, dying and grief.
Portia Hampton Wale, Lead Nurse at Longfield Hospice, will be hosting a session on the day.
“We all need to think, and talk about, what happens when we die. I hope these sessions will help people of all ages ask those difficult conversations and break down the taboo surrounding talking about death,” she said.
Event host Jane Diamond, from Family Tree Funeral Company, is running a funeral planning session on the day and will explain the role of a death doula. She said: “Family Tree Funeral Company stands alongside Longfield in our shared commitment to promote better education, more opportunities for people to share experiences, and more choice overall around death, dying and care at the end of life.”
To book a session, visit longfield.org.uk/event/dying-matters/
