Dying Matters 2017
Throughout Dying Matters week 2017, Mary Stevens Hospice, H.Porter & Sons, Churchill Shopping Centre and Stourbridge College will be encouraging the community to speak more openly about death.
This year, the national awareness campaign will run from May 8th-May 14th, and the organisations have teamed up to create a week of activities to engage with the community and encourage locals to speak more openly about death, in order to make plans for when the time does come.
From Monday 8th-Thursday 11th May, a custom-made white coffin will be on display in the main lobby at Stourbridge College’s Hagley Road campus, with students encouraged to graffiti messages and designs on the coffin about what death means to them.
Then, on Friday 12th, the coffin will be on display in Churchill Shopping Centre, Dudley as part of a Dying Matters morning. Ten local organisations specialising in everything from will writing to bereavement support will be in the centre talking to the local community, giving out information and advice and encouraging us all to speak more calmly and comfortably about our plans for when we die.
Laura Millard, Community Engagement Officer, Mary Stevens Hospice Group said:
“Huge steps have been taken in recent years to create a more open space in which to consider our plans for the future, but we feel there is still a lot of work to be done to make people feel comfortable about talking about the subject of death.
These conversations are so, so important – not just for the person planning for the future, but for their loved ones and those people who will be most in need of support when the time comes.
By coming together and creating a safe space in which to talk openly and freely about the subject, we can help families in a time where clarity and certainty can be such a huge comfort.”
Stalls will be set-up to welcome the public from 9am on Friday 12th May.
To find out more about Dying Matters week, please visit www.dyingmatters.org
Or to find out more details about the awareness initiatives taking place throughout the week, please contact the Hospice on 01384 377 778