Kate is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath. She is Mum to two children. Her son was born was a life threatening condition and spent 3 months in NICU.

Ivor Williams is a designer, developing new ways of thinking about and experiencing death and dying in the 21st century. He leads the end-of-life care projects at the Helix Centre, an innovation design lab inside the Institute for Global Health Innovation led by Lord Ara Darzi at St Mary’s Hospital in London.

You can follow Chris on Instagram, where he shares relief, aid, tips and tricks with other husbands, who like him, had absolutely NO IDEA what to do when told their wife has cancer.

Christie Watson was a registered nurse for twenty years and is currently patron of the Royal College of Nursing Foundation. The Language of Kindness, her memoir about nursing, is a number one Sunday Times bestseller. 

Julie Troyer died from brain cancer at the age of 43. Her parents and older brother have written about the things they wish they’d known before she died.

Lorna Cobbett is a Mummy to triplets - Roman, Essie and Eva - who were born in February 2016. Essie was diagnosed as life limited at 11 days old and died aged 18 months in August 2017.

Steve Bland’s wife Rachael died from triple negative breast cancer in September 2018. Rachael was a BBC presenter and hosted the incredible podcast You, Me and the Big C.

Kate Tym and Kate Dyer are the founders of Coffin Club, a safe space to talk about death and plan your perfect send-off.

Ben Sealy works as a psychotherapist  at Harlington Hospice and with the palliative care team in North London. He sees patients at the end of life as well as their carers/family, working with them in their homes, in hospital and at the hospice, from diagnosis until death.

When Mark Lemon was 12, his father was murdered. He now writes books for children.

Kim is a palliative care nurse and the lead for Let's talk: Transforming end of life care conversations at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and the Second Conversation, a collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians.

Nuri McBride worked in international humanitarian aid for fifteen years specialising in survivors of torture, refugee children, and the resettlement of unaccompanied minors. She has worked in-country in Kenya, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Thailand, as well as in resettlement in the United States.

May 2019 marks a decade since Chloe Laws’ stepdad died by suicide. Chloe is the founder and co-editor of the feminist platform FGRLS CLUB, which creates and champions content that aims to break taboos and open up conversations. 

Having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 at the age of 29, Ellie Finch Hulme writes about her experiences of parenting and Parkinson’s on her blog, PD Mama, with the aim of raising awareness of young onset PD.

After the death of her son, Teddy, at three days old, Elle Wright started writing to navigate her new life and as a way to feel purpose again. Her blog, Feathering The Empty Nest, is a way of finding light in darkness, positivity in times of desperation and, hopefully, making a few people laugh along the way. Elle is a wife, mother, award-winning blogger and author of The Sunday Times Bestselling book ‘Ask Me His Name’.

Alex Holder has written a book on the importance of talking about money. Her work has been taught in schools and debated in parliament. Her campaign highlighting the gender pay gap went viral and helped change an actual law. Her book ‘Open Up – The Power of Talking About Money’ is published by Serpents Tail and out now.

Dr Rachel Clarke works in an NHS hospice and believes strongly in the importance of helping patients with a terminal illness live as richly and fully as possible.

Barbara Karnes, RN, is an internationally respected speaker, educator, author, and thought leader on matters of end of life. She is a renowned authority to explain the dying process to families, healthcare professionals, and the community at large.

Carol Smillie (now Knight) qualified as a Humanist Celebrant in 2018 after over 25 years in television. She now conducts non religious funerals, naming and legal wedding ceremonies with the charity Humanist Society Scotland. Humanist ceremonies are now the number one choice across Scotland for both weddings and funerals.

Clemmie Telford has experienced the death of several loved ones including the particularly significant loss of a family friend, who died of Malaria aged 20, after volunteering at a school in Ghana.

Mark Shepherd and his wife Desiree have lost two sons - the first through premature birth and the second through still birth. In 2019, Mark establish Bonded, a once-a-month support group for grieving dads based in Richmond, Surrey.

Rehana Rose is the director of Dead Good - an intimate portrait of those dealing with their dead, supported during the ritual of care after death by a team of women who are ‘giving death back to the people’.


Louise sister Gemma died from breast cancer in October 2018 at the age of 44. She was a newly wed with a four year old son, as well as an actor and writer.

Not Your Average Family is a blog run by an Uncle and Auntie who, two years ago, became Special Guardians to their Niece and Nephew. Their blog aims give an insight into the life of a not so average family, childhood bereavement and all the adventures along the way.

Dr Kathryn Mannix has spent her medical career working with people who have incurable, advanced illnesses. She’s the author of the best-selling book, With the End in Mind.

Jools Barsky is the sister of Jon Underwood, who died unexpectedly in 2017 from undiagnosed acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Erica Buist’s book, This Party’s Dead, is about the world’s death festivals. It starts with the sudden and unexpected death of her father-in-law, after which she decided to travel to seven countries to see how various cultures deal more joyfully with death.

Stephanie Owens works at Dying Matters. She feels strongly about helping those at the end of their lives and helping raise awareness about the importance of talking about death and dying.

Charlotte Underwood was 18 when her father, Stephen Fox, died by suicide. She’s an author, mental health campaigner and suicide survivor.

Fran is a former award winning funeral director with many years experience of both funeral directing and managing natural burial grounds. Fran is now CEO of the Good Funeral Guide.