Brum YODO is a growing group of artists, undertakers, food artists, hospices, palliative care professionals and generally all-round interesting folk. They believe that there is such a thing as a good death – but it will only happen if we, the people demand it. Don’t miss their upcoming festival ‘A Matter of Life & Death’ from 10th - 19th May 2019.
Read moreFive Things death has taught me about life by cancer badass AnnMarie Otis.
Parlaying a cancer diagnosis into an advocacy powerhouse, Cancer Badass AnnMarie Otis gives voice to people impacted by breast cancer, MS, and mental health issues. She established the non-profit Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer organization in 2012.
Read moreFive Things to remember about death and the digital by Elaine Kasket.
Elaine Kasket is the author of All the Ghosts in the Machine: Illusions of Immortality in the Digital Age. She writes about the murky and weirdly compelling junctures where life, death and the digital meet.
Read moreFive Things I've learned from 50 years of living and working with death and dying and near-death experiences by Dr Deborah Forrest
Dr. Deborah Forrest trained with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and is a pioneer in the field of spirituality and dementia. Her personal experiences with death and dying and grief work began at the age of three years when she attended the funeral of her great-aunt. It has continued over the decades with the deaths of her parents, two sisters, her husband and multiple aunts and uncles and cousins and dear friends.
Read moreFive Things I didn't expect when I was told I have a life limiting illness with a short prognosis by Dr Lois Tonkin.
Dr Lois Tonkin is a lecturer, researcher, counsellor, and writer about loss and grief. Her work with grieving people, and with the other professionals who support them, reflects her understanding that grief is not only about our responses when someone dies, but about losing anything that is important to us. It may be our relationship, our dreams of having a child, our hopes and expectations, independence, jobs, home or health.
Read moreFive Things I wish people knew about grief by Catherine Betley.
Catherine Betley has been managing counselling services for over 20 years and bereavement care services since 2002. She believes that grief education is vital to improving our care of bereaved people ad that everyone should be able to access timely, professional bereavement support if and when they need it.
Read moreFive Things I wish someone had told me after my brother died by suicide, by Rose Heiney.
Rose Heiney’s brother, Nicholas, died by suicide at the age of 23. She’s a playwright, novelist and a screenwriter for film and TV.
Read moreFive Things I've learnt about death and dying since my cancer diagnosis, by Fizzy Snood.
Diagnosed with breast cancer, Sara Cutting faced the prospect of losing her curly blonde hair during the rigours of chemotherapy. But rather than let it get to her, she decided to embrace baldness by taking a selfie every day – and showing off a spectacular hat each time.
Read moreFive Things I’ve learned about life and death from working in a hospital mortuary by Lara-Rose Iredale.
Lara-Rose Iredale is a Senior Anatomical Pathology Technologist at a hospital mortuary in London.
Read moreFive Things to consider when arranging a funeral by funeral director Sarah Jones.
Sarah Jones, Funeral Director & Founder at Full Circle Funerals in Leeds
Sarah Jones is a funeral director and the founder of Full Circle Funerals, an award winning funeral home in Leeds. She believes ardently that we would all benefit from speaking about death and dying more openly so that we are better able to support ourselves and our loved ones in life and death.
Read moreFive Things you should know when talking about death by Tracey Bleakley.
Tracey Bleakley is the Chief Executive of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice care. Tracey is on the board of the Gold Standards Framework and on the Lancet Commission into the Value of Death. She is also Co-Chair of the Palliative Care Leadership Collaborative.
Read moreFive Things I’ve learnt from caring for the dying in hospitals by Dr LJ Smith.
Dr Laura Jane Smith is a Respiratory Consultant working in the NHS in London. Her job makes her think a lot – about people, life, death, inequality and how things could be better.
Read moreFive Things death taught me about life in my 20s, by Rachel Reichblum.
After losing both of her parents to brain cancer in the last two years (when she was 26 and 28 years old), Rachel Reichblum started her Instagram account @ThatGoodGrief chronicling quotes that have resonated with her, reflections on her day-to-day with grief, and the professional resources she's found.
Read moreFive Things my Mum’s death has taught me about life by Sally Wyatt.
Sally lives in Switzerland with her husband and two children. She considers herself to be a realistic optimist and blogs as Life Lemonaid. Her Mum died on 15th January 2019.
Read moreFive Things I've learnt about supporting traumatised people after the traumatic loss of almost all of my family by The Fandangoe Kid.
The Fandangoe Kid has used her creative practice to process the enormous traumatic loss of almost all of her family. Having experienced society’s discomfort with talking about death and loss when trying to come to terms with her own bereavement, she seeks to use her practice as a platform for unearthing conversations around the vast and complex subject of grief, something that will affect us all, yet something we are still so ill equipped at handling.
Read moreFive Things I've learnt from running a feminist death blog by Lucy Coleman Talbot.
Lucy is currently completing her PhD examining the Crossbones Graveyard in Southwark, London, where she also volunteers and advocates for it's protection.
Read moreFive terminal illness perks no one tells you the day you’re diagnosed by Kris Hallenga.
Kris Hallenga was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer at the age of 23. After finding a lump at 22, living abroad in China for eight months and eventually visiting her doctor three times, Kris was told the news that she had incurable breast cancer. She founded CoppaFeel, the first breast cancer charity in the UK to solely create awareness amongst young people, with the aim of instilling the knowledge and tools they need to get to know their bodies.
Read moreFive Things I've learnt after being diagnosed with incurable lung cancer at 29 by Saima Thompson.
Saima Thompson is the founder of the Masala Wala Cafe in Brockley, South East London. She writes about her experiences with cancer on her blog, Curry and Cancer.
Read moreFive Things death has taught me about grief by Charlotte Philby.
Charlotte Philby is a London-based author, journalist and broadcaster. Her debut novel, The Most Difficult Thing, will be published by HarperCollins’ Borough Press in July 2019 and is available for preorder now.
Read moreFive Things not to say to someone whose husband has just died, by Holly Matthews.
Holly Matthews is a TV actress, award winning vlogger, positive Mindset coach, speaker, Founder of The Happy Me Project online course & LIVE workshops and mum to two girls. Her husband, Ross Blair, died from cancer in July 2017.
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