A home for Death Cafe!

Join us in our quest to provide the worldwide Death Cafe movement with a base in London.

In the four years since it was founded, Death Cafe has turned from an idea into a movement which has snowballed internationally.

To date there have been over 2,400 Death Cafes held in 32 countries, run by willing volunteers. Every day, on average, three Death Cafes are held somewhere in the world.

Now is the time to give it a home in the city in which it originated.

What is Death Cafe London?

Death Cafe London will be a coffee shop and events venue in Central London, established to encourage people to talk about death.

The overall objective of Death Cafe London is: “to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.”

Coming to Death Cafe London will be a special experience. People will have the opportunity to discuss death whilst we provide them with great coffee and fabulous cake.

The environment will be designed to be welcoming, inviting and flexible and every effort will be made to ensure it is an accessible, respectful and confidential space.

People will engage with the space by either casual visits, alone or with friends, or by coming for a specific event. There will be no intention to lead people to any conclusion, product or course of action.

Why set up Death Cafe London?

Death is something that affects us all but we do tend not to talk about it.

This has implications for the way we die with 60% dying without a will and 81% of us not having written down funeral wishes.

Not talking about dying can also impact on the way we live in terms of our mental health, perspective on our life and the choices we make.

Certainly not everyone wants to talk about death. However we have found that a large number of people, on some occasion do want to talk about death.

What is more, we have found that talking about dying can even be enjoyable as well as useful and illuminating.

We are proposing to establish Death Cafe London as a dedicated place to have these important conversations.

Press coverage 

Death Cafe London has already received significant media coverage, getting more people talking about death in the process:

• Independent - Death Cafe set to open in London to ‘help people engage with dying’

• Sky News - Tea, Cake And Sympathy: Campaign For Death Cafe

• Evening Standard - Death Café London: A coffee shop where people can chat about dying is set for the capital

• Telegraph - Death Café: coffee shop where you can discuss mortality over a latte to open in London and Pop up Death Cafe seeks permanent residence in London

• Dazed and Confused - A Death Cafe is set to open in London

• Paper Magazine - A Death Cafe may be setting up in Central London

• Huffington Post - The World's First Permanent Death Cafe Could Soon Come To London

• Vice Magazine - Talking to the Man Trying to Open a Permanent Death Café in London

What sort of organisation is Death Cafe London?

Death Cafe London is a social enterprise and we aim to have a large, inclusive and international membership. Its legal form is a Community Benefit Society, registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Anyone may join the society, and membership is conferred by the purchase of one share. This type of legal structure is unique in that the control of the society is via one vote per member rather than one vote per share.

We chose this legal form as its non-hierarchical, democratic structure fits with Death Cafe’s mission of inclusion and member participation.

The board is made up of:

• Jon Underwood, secretary & executive director, founder of Death Cafe, 7 years management experience

• Zoe Samudzi , social psychologist focusing in critical race theory and gender and structural violences

• Jools Barsky, Brand consultant, Barsky Goldberg Brand Strategy

• Laura-Jane Smith, Respiratory Registrar working in the NHS in London

• Bill Palmer, consultant specialising in coaching and organisational development, Death Cafe organiser

• Megan Mooney, hospice social worker, Death Cafe organiser

• Lizzy Miles, MA, MSW, LSW, thanatologist, hospice advocate, death cafe host and mentor

Will Death Cafe London be open to everyone?

We believe that nothing brings out our shared humanity as much as death. As such, this public venue dedicated to talking about death will foster empathy and understanding between diverse groups.

Focusing on death also brings a requirement to acknowledge uncomfortable truths about society including racism, misogeny, ableism, homophobia and transphobia. Death Cafe London is committed to enabling all people - especially those with marginalised identities - to buy shares in, work at, use and shape the venture.

Share offer details

Please see the share offer document and business plan below for full details.

The minimum investment is £50, which is the price of one share.

You must be 16 or over to hold shares in your name. You can invest anything from £50 to £60,000.

Whatever your investment, you will be part-owner of this exciting venture – and your commitment will be welcome and appreciated.

We anticipate that these shares will qualify for SEIS / EIS tax relief for UK taxpayers, so you may be able to afford more than you originally thought.

SEIS relief of 50% can only apply to the first £150,000 raised in this share offer. A second tranche of shares may then be issued, eligible for EIS tax relief (30%). The first subscribers (who are UK taxpayers) to Death Cafe London should be able to apply for the higher relief.

You are buying shares in the Inclusive Community Cafe London, a Community Benefit Society (CBS) registered with the FCA (reg. no. 7072) and trading as Death Cafe London.

Next steps

Become an investor! Pledge your investment now to become part owner of this fantastic venture. 

Please see our Business Plan and Share Offer document below for full details of what we are proposing.

If you don’t wish to purchase shares then please donate to help make this vision a reality.

Important Documents