Demystifying Death Week 2024
Taking place across Scotland from 6-12 May, Demystifying Death Week is about shining a light on death, dying and bereavement in Scotland. We are encouraging people to get involved by holding in-person and online events that bring death, dying and bereavement into the limelight.
Below is a list of events registered so far - these pages will be updated over the coming weeks. If you are organising an event that you'd like us to feature, please get in touch.
Death Café (online)
Organised by Humanist Society Scotland
Thursday 9th May, 2pm-3.30pm
Online
This event is free and open to the public. Please register in advance.
At a Death Cafe people drink tea, eat cake and discuss death. Our aim is to increase awareness of death to help people make the most of their (finite) lives. Join us online to chat about death, dying, and bereavement, and help to reclaim death as part of life.
Whether you are newly bereaved, grieving for someone who died a long time ago or are just curious to see what a Death Café is like you are very welcome.
This is an opportunity to break the taboo around talking about Death. We can all benefit from being more comfortable having these conversations, so boil the kettle, raid the biscuit tin and join us online as we explore this universal experience together.
We aim to create an open, respectful and confidential space where people can express their views safely.
Please note that a Death Café is not a bereavement/grief support resource and we advise that you do not attend if you have been very recently bereaved and your grief feels very raw.
Places are limited so please book in advance. Book your place here.
"Much Ado About Dying" Screening - Screen Argyll, Eigg
In partnership with Cosmic Cat Films, Good Death, Good Grief, and Screen Argyll
9th May 2024
Isle of Eigg Community Hall, Eigg
This event is open to the public.
On 9th May, Screen Argyll are teaming up with Cosmic Cat Films and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief to screen the new film "Much Ado About Dying" in honour of Demystifying Death Week.
The film is a gloriously eccentric and thought-provoking look at what it means to live. The award-winning documentary follows long-retired actor David Newlyn Gale, living in an unsuitable flat, sustaining himself on cans of soup, keeping himself warm with a small army of electric heaters and battling a mice infestation with toothpaste. The film presents an intimate, occasionally funny and ultimately moving portrait of a solitary life and a quietly critical assessment of the inadequate resources available in the UK for a rapidly ageing population.
A partnership between Cinema For All, Cosmic Cat Films and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief will bring the new film to community cinemas across Scotland during Demystifying Death Week. Remote and rural cinemas across Scotland are holding discussion screenings of the new film.
A full list of screenings is available here.
Community Comfort Cafe
Organised by Serene Funeral Planning
Thursday 9th May, 10am - 4pm
Serene Funeral Planning, 17 Admiral Street, Kinning Park, Glasgow G41 1HP
This event is open to the public.
Conversations relating to topics such as funeral wishes can feel daunting – even superstitious. However, it is crucial to address these concerns and dispel any myths surrounding them, as avoiding the conversation does not change the inevitability of these matters.
Our ‘Community Comfort Cafe' is designed to provide a supportive space where individuals can openly share their thoughts, concerns, fears, and experience regarding bereavement, death, funeral planning, and later-life planning.
This is a community initiative – open to everyone – and we hope that by coming together, attendees will find support and understanding from like-minded individuals. Throughout the event, attendees will have access to informative talks on funeral plans and later-life planning (delivered by our legal partner Jones Whyte Solicitors), and will have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have.
Tea, coffee, sandwiches, and cake will be provided.
Find out more at Serene Funeral Planning's blog post.
New Death Cafe at Space to Be
Organised by St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral
9th May 2024, 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Space to Be, Gyle Shopping Centre, 12-13 Gyle Avenue, Edinburgh EH12 9JR
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
This is the launch of a new death cafe in West Edinburgh.
Join us for 1.5 hours of chat with cake & a cuppa. There will be interesting starter questions, a safe space to talk or just to listen. We'll be exploring death and dying to make the most of life.
This is a facilitated discussion group rather than grief support or counselling.
For further information and to register a free place, please email: manager@spacetobe.live
What We Leave Behind
Organised by St Columba's Hospice Compassionate Neighbours
Thursday 9th May
St Columba's Hospice, Haddington, East Lothian
This event is open to staff & volunteers from St Columba's Hospice Compassionate Neighbours team.
To open up conversations about death & dying, the Compassionate Neighbours volunteers at St Columba's Hospice will be exploring the historical grounds of St Mary's Parish Church in Haddington and thinking about the words and images found on the monuments and headstones across the cemetery and also thinking about how we would like to be remembered in times ahead.
We will then gather for coffee, cake and great conversations.
Photo credit: Courtesy of St Columba's Hospice Compassionate Neighbours
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