Let’s Discuss Death : Our October Festival is almost here

It has been quite a year for Let's Discuss Death.

This time last year, we were about to host our first ever free community death literacy events. Since then, we've celebrated Dying Matters Awareness Week, deepened our relationships with the NHS and library services, delivered training to workplaces and community groups, and supported families through the before and after of a loved one's death.

Time and again, we see how needed this work is, and how much people welcome the chance to have these conversations and ask their questions.

Next week we're running five days of free community events in partnership with Tower Hamlets Libraries and Idea Stores and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. I'd love to see you there.

Would you like an autumn walk in a beautiful cemetery park?

• Forgotten Lives, Lasting Stories. Ken, the Park Manager, leads a guided walk through one of the most special places in the borough.
  Tuesday 27th and Friday 30th October, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Would you like to be among people who can hold your grief?

• Carried With Us. A coffin-decorating workshop for all ages with artist Summer Oxley. The coffin you help decorate will be carried in the Day of the Dead procession on Columbia Road.
  Wednesday 28th October, Bethnal Green Library

• Grief Café. A gentle space to talk, or simply to listen.
  Wednesday 28th October, Bethnal Green Library

Get your questions answered before you need the answers

I don't want you to have to become death literate in real time, while you're caring for someone you love at the end of their life. Come along to the library and ask your questions now.

• What Families Need to Know When Someone Is Dying. A talk by Ruquyya Vankad, Deputy Chaplain at Barts NHS Trust.
  Wednesday 28th October, Bethnal Green Library

• The Gift: An Open Conversation about Organ Donation. A panel including the mother of an organ donor, a living donor, a doctor and nurses, ready to answer all your questions.
  Thursday 29th October, Bethnal Green Library

• Have You Told Them? A practical session on having tender conversations with your family. The skills are useful well beyond end-of-life conversations.
  Thursday 29th October, Bethnal Green Library

• Get Ahead of Being Dead with Evie King. You'll laugh a lot more than you expect while learning how to leave things in order.
  Thursday 29th October, Bethnal Green Library

• Let's Discuss Death: An Evening of Conversations. Death professionals sit at different tables, and you move between them for small-group conversations and answers to all your questions.
  Thursday 29th October, Bethnal Green Library

Alongside the scheduled events at Bethnal Green Library, local organisations and national charities will be on hand to tell you about the support available to you and your family.

Everything is free, but please book so we know to expect you. And please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.

Book your free tickets on Eventbrite

London's Day of the Dead, Columbia Road

Columbia Road has been home to London's Day of the Dead since 2016. This year, on Saturday 31st October, we've helped curate the Mercado in the primary school playground. Come and talk to the Natural Death Centre, Compassionate Funerals, St Joseph's Hospice, Sofia Sullivan Ceramics and us. Out on the street, there'll be dance from Mexican choreographer Alondra and a procession led by Mariachi Las Adelitas. It will be a day of music, colour and remembrance.

Keep in touch

Follow us on Instagram for updates from the week.

Thank you for being part of Let's Discuss Death.

Warmly,

Tilly Munro, Co-Founder