News
To Absent Friends launch event announced
The launch for this year's To Absent Friends festival of storytelling and remembrance will take place at the University of Dundee.
The University’s front lawn will be lit up by a garden of specially created artificial lilies, based on an idea devised by Napier University and installed in Grassmarket, Edinburgh, during To Absent Friends 2017 (pictured).
The grassy area in front of the Tower Building on Nethergate will play host to the illuminated memorial garden on Thursday 31 October to mark the beginning of this year’s To Absent Friends programme.
Each lily is created from a small coloured glowstick and a large plastic ‘petal’ on which people can write a message to a loved one. The initiative will take place across four Scottish towns and cities for 2019.
The lilies will be replanted at another city centre location after the launch and the organisers of the Dundee project are inviting members of the public who would like to light a lily in memory of a loved one to get in touch.
Anyone who would like to know more about the Dundee project can contact Mayra on 01382 384899 or m.l.crowe@dundee.ac.uk
If you would like to attend the launch, please reserve a place here.
New public education course: pilot dates announced
End of life Aid Skills for Everyone (EASE) is a new public education course for anyone who wants to know more about dying, death and bereavement. It has been developed by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care to explore the basics of end-of-life care and address some of the fears and uncertainties many people have about caring for those who are nearing the end of life.
Two pilot courses have been arranged - one in Musselburgh starting on 10 October, one in Dundee (dates to be confirmed). We are looking for participants to attend. It's free and you'll not only be developing your own skills, but helping to trial a course that will help others. If you're interested, please follow the link below to sign up.
Find out more about the courses here
To Absent Friends grant scheme launched
We have launched our small grants scheme for this year's To Absent Friends festival of storytelling and remembrance, which runs from 1-7 November 2019.
The scheme is to support small organisations to undertake local activities that provide public opportunities for storytelling and/or remembrance of people who have died.
Full details are available here.
Contribution To Openness About Death Award 2019
The winner has been announced for the third Contribution to Openness about Death Award. It has gone to North Berwick Coastal Health and Wellbeing Association for their long-term commitment to opening up conversations about death, dying and bereavement in their local community.
The association has a huge remit, but they have made "death" a central part of their plan to support and promote health and wellbeing in the community. Each year, they run remembrance events as part of To Absent Friends festival, and they've collaborated with other organisations including Cruse Bereavement Care, North Berwick Floral Art Club, North Berwick Writers Club and North Berwick Day Centre to help create meaningful and engaging events where important conversations can happen. For this year's Good Death Week they held a lunch as well as a creative writing workshop on a theme of death organised by the Scottish Poetry Library.
The award is made by Good Life Good Death Good Grief to recognise individual or group contributions towards promoting more open and supportive attitudes to death and bereavement in Scotland. It has been made to mark Good Death Week, 13 - 19 May and has previously been won by the likes of Hibernian FC.
The Truacanta Project
A new compassionate communities project has been launched by Good Life Good Death Good Grief. The Truacanta Project is about helping communities unleash their compassion and find ways to help each other with death, dying, loss and care.
The Truacanta Project is an initiative of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC), and funded by Macmillan Cancer Support. The project is part of the SPPC's ongoing Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief initiative, which promotes more open and supportive attitudes and behaviours relating to death, dying and bereavement in Scotland.
Traditionally, communities played an important role supporting those at the end of life in lots of small but important ways – taking care of the garden, bringing round a meal, popping by for a chat. As people live longer, families move away and death becomes more medicalised, many traditional community links and support networks have been lost. Yet the support of friends, family, neighbours and colleagues is essential in providing much-needed comfort and practical help when someone is very ill, dying or bereaved. No-one should have to deal with these difficult experiences alone.
The Truacanta Project will support local communities across Scotland who are interested in taking community action to improve people’s experiences of death, dying, loss and care. It will take a community development approach, supporting communities to make the most of their existing enthusiasm, strengths, skills and resources and take practical actions that improve experiences for local people.
For example, a community might want to set up a network of volunteers to sit with people who are very ill, work with local employers to try to make workplaces more bereavement-friendly, or run courses to educate people about the support that can be provided around dying and bereavement. Whatever the activity, the Truacanta Project will help communities to become more connected, and better equipped to help each other with death, dying, loss and care.
Project Manager, Caroline Gibb, said: “I’m delighted to be managing The Truacanta Project, and am really looking forward to working with communities and finding out what matters to them. There is a lot of positive work already happening in this area and I’m sure there will be many creative ideas for how local projects can help improve people’s experiences of death, dying, loss and care.”
“This is a really exciting, innovative project that promises to have real impact on communities across Scotland,” continued Caroline. “I can’t wait to get started and look forward to hearing from interested communities.”
Are you or your organisation interested in being a part of The Truacanta Project? Find our more here: The Truacanta Project
RSS