Scottish Government staff mark Hospice Care Week

Scottish Government staff mark Hospice Care Week

On Thursday 10^th October, the Scottish Government offices at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh were visited by Before I Die – a global public art project that invites people to reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in public space.

Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief and the 100% Project brought the Before I Die walls to St Andrew’s House to mark Hospice Care Week 2013.

Before I Die was originally conceived by American artist Candy Chang, who explains on her website the inspiration behind the project: “After I lost someone I loved very much, I thought about death a lot. This helped clarify my life, the people I want to be with, and the things I want to do, but I struggled to maintain perspective. I wondered if other people felt the same way. So with help from old and new friends, I painted the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood in New Orleans with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence ‘Before I die I want to _______.’ Anyone walking by could pick up a piece of chalk, reflect on their lives, and share their personal aspirations in public space.”

Rebecca Patterson, from Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, said: “At Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief we believe that problems are caused in Scotland because as a society we are reluctant to be open about death, dying and bereavement. For example, people are unprepared for the experiences of death, dying and bereavement. Communities can be disempowered from providing support to people who are dying or bereaved. Health and social care professionals are unprepared for death-related discussions.

“We believe that many of these problems can be solved by raising public awareness of ways we can all support each other through the difficult times that come with death, dying and bereavement. Before I Die walls are a meaningful and light-hearted way of bringing reflections on life and death into public spaces.”

Hospice Care Week is held each year, as a week of celebration and action aimed at changing people's perceptions of hospice care, and to help raise the profile of hospice care across the UK.

Ali Kerr, Fundraising Manager at the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland added: ““CHAS understands that families who experience the death of a child experience isolation and stress through society’s reluctance to talk about death and dying. CHAS has a responsibility to play a part in helping to challenge these issues in the hope that this will make communication with and for families a little bit easier. That is why we set up the 100% Project, which aims to start conversations about death, dying and bereavement in a life-affirming way.”

So, what to St Andrew's House staff want to do before they die? Suggestions ranged from the practical “Before I die I want to retire” to the romantic “Before I die I want to find true love” to the whimsical “Before I die I want to smoke a cigar whilst having a suit fitted.”