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:
Tour and Q&A - East Lothian Crematorium & Memorial Gardens
Organised by St Columba’s Hospice Care - Compassionate Communities Team
Tuesday 5th May 2026
East Lothian Crematorium & Memorial Gardens, Musselburgh
This event is for St Columba’s staff and volunteers
Staff and volunteers from the Compassionate Neighbours & Gardeners team at St Columba’s Hospice Care are invited on a visit to the beautiful new East Lothian Crematorium & Memorial Gardens in Musselburgh. There will be a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the crematorium and gardens, with opportunities to ask questions from the staff there.
It Takes a Village: Stow
Organised by Tina Cunningham, NHS Borders
4-10 May 2026
Stow
These activities are for the community of Stow.
There will be a range of information and events in the village of Stow in honour of Demystifying Death Week, including information leaflets and the It Takes a Village photo exhibition.
Organiser Tina Cunningham works with NHS Borders as an assistant practice educator for palliative care. Tina is keen to promote a more compassionate community in Stow, and this week is the ideal opportunity to get started. These activities will be taking place with the hope of providing safe spaces for discussions and support.
Photo credit: Colin Gray
QMU: Sue Ryder Grief Kind screenings for staff
Organised by QMU Bereavement Working Group
4-10 May
QMU campus, Queen Margaret University Way, Musselburgh EH21 6UU
This event is for QMU staff.
Demystifying Death Week is held across Scotland each May and is about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care. Conversations about death and dying may be difficult. They are also important.
As part of the QMU Bereavement Charter working group’s commitment to the Bereavement Charter Mark*, we are hosting screenings of the Sue Ryder Grief Kind classes alongside a facilitated discussion on the content and issues arising from them. These expert video tutorials, which are freely available online, are designed to help you support others with grief. The working group recognises the value of sharing and reflecting together as we collectively work to address the culture of bereavement support in QMU.
All staff are warmly invited to attend one of these sessions, held in person on campus.
*QMU was awarded a Bereavement Charter Mark in 2024 to recognise the?commitment to?creating a workplace culture that supports its employees with resources, information and conversations related to death, dying,?bereavement?and grief.
Image credit: Sue Ryder Grief Kind video still
Demystifying Death Day
Organised by Glasgow School of Art’s School of Innovation & Technology, NHS Forth Valley and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief
29 April 2026, 2-5pm
Reid Building, Glasgow School of Art, 164 Renfrew St, Glasgow G3 6RQ
This event is open to the public. Please register in advance.
Following the success of rural initiatives hosted by Strathcarron Hospice, the Glasgow School of Art with NHS is hosting a specialised showcase at the Reid Building. This event brings the “Serious Games” project into a central urban hub, providing a unique opportunity for NHS leadership, practitioners, and the public to engage with innovative tools designed to navigate bereavement and end-of-life care.
Featured Highlights:
- Powers, Puzzles and Prescience Escape Room: An immersive narrative experience developed by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief.
- Student-Led Prototypes: High-level projects from GSA’s Innovation and Technology programmes that use game mechanics to facilitate difficult conversations.
- NHS-Developed Tools: Practical, evidence-based games currently being trialled within healthcare settings to improve “Grief Culture.”
The showcase will also feature prototypes created as part of the Undergraduate Serious Games Elective Games (Analogue), the Post Graduate Serious Games (Digital), and proposed MSc Projects from 2026 in Digital & VR Research.
These prototyped and in-progress concepts explore the intersection of technology, social enterprise, and community wellbeing.
Find out more and register here.
Death Cafe - Greenock Central Library
Organised by Inverclyde Libraries Death Cafe and Ardgowan Hospice
Tuesday 28th April
Greenock Central Library from 10am-12pm
This activity is open to the public.
This session of the monthly Death Cafe will have a Demystifying Death focus, with resources from Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief available to support discussion.
Come along and chat about life and death in a relaxed, informal setting with a cup of tea.
Image credit: Greenock Central Library
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