News
Essence of a Memory competition
Cigarette smoke. An unusual turn of phrase. The taste of ginger biscuits. The smell of chip fat frying. All kinds of things evoke memories of people who've died, and many of them come with an interesting anecdote.
How do you capture the essence of a memory? Can it be done in 50 well-chosen words and a photograph?
The To Absent Friends Essence of a Memory competition challenges people to do just that. It asks people to take a photo and write up to 50 words which together evoke a story or memory of someone they love who is dead.
The competition is being run by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief as part of the Luminate Festival of Creative Ageing. Luminate celebrates our creative lives as we age, and includes new work, collaborations as well as international projects specially planned and programmed for the festival. There is growing evidence of the importance of creative activities to our wellbeing as we age, and Luminate wants to shine a light on the many opportunities that exist across Scotland.
The Essence of a Memory competition encourages entries from photographers and writers of all ages and abilities living in Scotland. The judging panel includes former Edinburgh Makar, Ron Butlin, and prizes will be presented by award-winning photographer Colin Gray. Winners will be invited to attend an exhibition of their work at a reception in the Scottish Parliament on 30th October.
Winning entries will form a photo exhibition to be displayed at Marie Curie Hospice Glasgow from 1-7 November as part of To Absent Friends, a people's festival of storytelling and remembrance. More information about the competition is available here: weblink.
small grants available
A small grants fund has been set up to support Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief members to participate in To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance, running 1-7 November 2014.
We are particularly keen to support small organisations to undertake local activities that provide public opportunities for storytelling and/or remembrance of people who have died.
Some ideas of relevant activities members might wish to undertake are listed on the To Absent Friends website, but we also recognise that approaches to this are likely to be varied, and therefore encourage creative and innovative ideas that are appropriate to local groups and communities.
The maximum sum available through the small grants programme is £250.
The deadline for receipt of completed applications is Friday 19th September 2014. However, in order to facilitate events which require advance planning, we will assess each application as soon as possible after it has been submitted. Where an application is successful we aim to provide funding as quickly as possible. Therefore there may be an advantage to getting your application in early.
A grant application form and guidance notes for applicants are provided below.
To Absent Friends
Get involved in a new festival of storytelling and remembrance being initiated by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief this November...
People who have died remain a part of our lives – their stories are our stories, yet many Scottish traditions relating to the expression of loss and remembrance have faded over time.
To Absent Friends, a People's Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create new ones. Held for the first time from 1-7 November 2014, To Absent Friends will give people across Scotland an excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died.
Unlike most festivals, events that take place as part of To Absent Friends are not bound by a particular time or venue. To Absent Friends will happen across Scotland - in public spaces, over social media, among friends, families and communities, and in people's minds and hearts.
If you like the idea of To Absent Friends, join in and help establish a new national institution. Organise something big or small, celebratory or reflective, share it or keep it private.
Find out more and get involved here: To Absent Friends You can keep up-to-date on Twitter here: @2AbsentFriends
Death on the Fringe
This year, Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief will be getting involved in the Edinburgh Fringe with a new project – Death on the Fringe.
Death on the Fringe is a series of shows that look at death and dying from different perspectives – some serious, some comical – but all contributing to the debate on death and end of life matters.
Performers include comic Robyn Perkins, who recounts the lighter aspects of the death of her partner in Over It. Three housemates figure out how to cope with the death of the fourth in the drama Chris Is Dead. Nathan Cassidy ponders what to do if you know your Date Of Death. Meanwhile, the 80 year old Lynn Ruth Miller (as seen on Britain's Got Talent) brings us a stand-up routine to show she's Not Dead Yet!
The Edinburgh Fringe is the world's largest arts festival with attendances of over 2 million. It has a history of showing cutting edge and thought provoking arts events, making it the ideal place to encourage more public openness and debate about death, dying and bereavement.
Death on the Fringe takes place between 1 and 25 August, with a special launch event on 1 August. Find out more at the Death on the Fringe website.
You can keep up to date by following @DeathOnFringe on twitter.
The Hidden Worlds of Caring and Serious Illness
Three new short films entitled “At Home with Illness” have been launched to mark Carers Week 2014. The gritty films take an unflinching look at what happens when serious illness arrives in a family.
Although this situation affects thousands in Scotland the lives of people who are seriously ill are largely hidden, and so too are the sometimes harsh realities of those who care for them. 1 in 8 of the Scottish population are involved in providing care and support to a family member. Around 40, 000 people each year in Scotland will die after a period of protracted illness.
Filmed intimately at home, three very different families tell their own powerful and individual stories of love, loss, crisis, tears, hope and laughter. One of the 3 films, “The Long Goodbye” has already become a word-of-mouth success on YouTube. All three films have been commissioned by a consortium of national charities, led by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC).
Mark Hazelwood, Chief Executive of SPPC, said:
“We wanted to lift the lid on a hidden world – the world of families living with serious illness. This is a world in which thousands of Scottish families exist, yet their experiences are seldom seen or heard. This leaves society ill-equipped to support others and ill-prepared should the same situation affect us. The films allow the families to tell it how it is, and there are lessons for everyone in the stories they tell.”
Organisations involved in the commissioning of the films include: Marie Curie Cancer Care, MND Scotland, MS Society Scotland, MSA Trust, Parkinson’s UK and PSP Association.
The films can be viewed here: At home with illness
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