Demystifying Death Week 2026
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.
Demystifying Death Week takes place across Scotland from 4-10 May 2026. If you are organising an event that you’d like us to feature, please get in touch.
Below is a list of events happening across Scotland and online for Demystifying Death Week:
Death Cafe (Edinburgh)
Organised by Humanist Society Scotland and Typewronger Books
Wednesday 6 May, 5:30-7pm
Typewronger Books, 4a Haddington Place, Edinburgh, EH7 4AE
This event is open to the public.
Following a successful Demystifying Death Week Death Cafe collaboration in 2025, Humanist Society Scotland and Typewronger Books are hosting another Death Cafe this year.
A Death Café is a warm, open space where people come together to talk about one of life’s most universal, yet often avoided, topics: death. But it’s not a morbid affair! Instead, it’s an opportunity for honest, non-judgmental conversation in a relaxed setting, usually over a cup of tea or coffee and cake. It’s a chance to explore everything from personal grief to existential musings to the logistics of end-of-life planning. The conversations are as varied as the people who attend.
This session will be facilitated by Lara Celini (Community Engagement Manager and celebrant with Humanist Society Scotland) at Typewronger Books. So come along and reclaim death as part of life. We can all benefit from being more comfortable having these conversations.
Please note that a death café is not a bereavement or grief support resource and we advise that you do not attend if you have been very recently bereaved or if your grief feels very raw.
With thanks to Typewronger Books for hosting us again. Typewronger CIC (Community Interest Company) is a not for profit social enterprise committed to fostering creativity within Edinburgh and further afield.
Find out more here.
Photo credit: Humanist Society Scotland and Typewronger Books Death Cafe from Demystifying Death Week 2025
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Organised by NHS Grampian’s Spiritual Care Team
Tuesday, 5 May from 7.00 - 8.30pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
NHS Grampian’s Spiritual Care Team is hosting a series of free, online webinars with a range of panel speakers as part of Demystifying Death Week 2026.
This webinar is about talking about death including, planning ahead for care, decisions and support, conversations that help when it matters most.
Each webinar is running at two different times to make it easier for as many people as possible to attend. If you have any queries, contact gram.realisticmedicine@nhs.scot.
Find out more and register here.
Image credit: Chris Montgomery via Unsplash
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Organised by NHS Grampian’s Spiritual Care Team
Tuesday, 5 May from 12.00 – 1.30pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
NHS Grampian’s Spiritual Care Team is hosting a series of free, online webinars with a range of panel speakers as part of Demystifying Death Week 2026.
This webinar is about talking about death including, planning ahead for care, decisions and support, conversations that help when it matters most.
Each webinar is running at two different times to make it easier for as many people as possible to attend. If you have any queries, contact gram.realisticmedicine@nhs.scot.
Find out more and register here.
Image credit: Chris Montgomery via Unsplash
Argyll Death Cafe
Organised by Lochgilphead Death Cafe
Tuesday 5 May 2026, 5:30pm
Dochas Centre, Lochgilphead, Argyll
This event is open to the public.
At a Death Cafe people, sometimes strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea, and discuss death. Our objective is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping to make the most of our (finite) lives. Come and join us.
As part of Demystifying Death Week, we will be holding a discussion on grief, led by a counsellor who has many years’ experience of working with the bereaved.
The cafe hopes to break down the taboo surrounding death, so we can approach it with curiosity and openness. What is shared is always confidential. Everyone is welcome to come and share their views or just listen, in a safe and non-judgmental environment. Please note that the Death Cafe is not grief support or a counselling session.
Humanist Book Group (Online): With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix
Organised by Humanist Society Scotland
Tuesday 5 May, 7:30-8:30pm
Online via Zoom
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
For Demystifying Death Week we’ll be discussing Kathryn Mannix’s book With the End in Mind on Tuesday 5th May at 7.30pm online.
An unprecedented book by palliative medicine pioneer Dr Kathryn Mannix exploring the biggest taboo in our society and the only certainty we all share, With the End in Mind is described as “illuminating and beautiful” by Cathy Rentzenbrink in The Times.
Told through a series of beautifully crafted stories taken from nearly four decades of clinical practice, Mannix’s book answers the most intimate questions about the process of dying with touching honesty and humanity. She makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation but with openness, clarity, and understanding.
Our Book Group is drop-in friendly, attendance is flexible, and you join-in when you choose to, no guilt.
We aim to center the experience around relaxed and informal discussion, themes, and community. We value open dialogue, diverse viewpoints, and thoughtful exploration.
Enjoy lively conversation, and a Zoom room full of people who care about ideas, ethics, and being human in the world.
Kindly facilitated by our volunteer book group facilitators Gillian, Jenny, and Shelley.
We would like to foster a respectful and brave online space, where everyone feels welcome. We ask participants to be open to different interpretations and life experiences, and to listen actively with curiosity.
Find out more and book your place here.
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