Hosted by Josefine Speyer with assistance from Sharon Young and Philomena Corrigan

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About this Death Cafe

*** No bookings required. Just show up, first come first served ***

We have room for up to 30 participants. Please arrive early and order your food and drink as soon as possible so we can start the conversation at 6.45pm prompt. Make sure you give the waiter your name and table number so we have a minimum of disruption. The room upstairs where we meet is beautiful, but the acoustics are poor. It can get very noisy and this is a problem for people who are hard of hearing. If we are full upstairs, I suggest you take a table in the back room downstairs and join us for the plenary upstairs at the end of the evening. 

The format of the evening is in three parts:

6.30 pm A conversation around each table: Introduce yourself, say a little about yourself and why you have come. 

7.30 pm we take a short break. Change tables if you like.

7.45 pm Deepening the conversation. 

Around 8.30pm Plenary

We end at 9.15pm. You are welcome to stay on longer and continue the conversations, if you like.

About Josefine Speyer with assistance from Sharon Young and Philomena Corrigan

Josefine Speyer is a UKCP registered psychotherapist in private practice in London since 1985. With her husband Nicholas Albery she founded the Natural Death Centre in 1991, an educational charity of which she is now a patron. The NDC provides advice and information on funerals via its free help line and through the Natural Death Handbook.

Josefine specialises in death education workshops, study days and Death Salons to help people think and talk about death as a natural part of life and to educate them about choices. Since November 2012 she has hosted Death Cafés at her home in NW London, in Hampstead’s Café Rouge, in Oxford and Lewes. She holds monthly Death Cafés in Hampstead.

See more at: http://deathcafe.com/deathcafe/258/#sthash.z4EHHrHH.dpuf

Sharon Young, has practiced as a Physiotherapist for 15 years both in the UK and Denmark before studying for an MA and currently a PhD in Politics and Human Rights. Having a clinical background has provided a practical insight and understanding of illness and the dying process whilst academic study has enabled her to see the wider social, cultural and political issues surrounding death and dying.

"Considering the pace of life and increasing individualism in our modern society, I feel that the Death Café makes a valuable contribution to demystifying some of the taboos surrounding death and dying. In addition, speaking about personal concerns regarding the end of life within a safe and respectful environment provides a level of intimacy, openness and honesty which is perhaps lacking in our community and networks."

Philomena Corrigan volunteers as a Marie Curie helper. This involves befriending clients with a life-limiting illness during the final months of their lives. She is also completing her training to become an End-of-Life-Doula. This role is similar to that of a Childbirth Doula who supports women at the beginning of a life. An EOL Doula is an ‘amicus mortis’ or friend at death. This new role is part of a ‘compassionate communities’ approach, that sees the end of life as everyone’s concern. 

Philomena retired last year, after forty odd years as a nurse practitioner and teacher. She thinks that facing the reality of death is a great motivator for appreciating life, for living every day with gratitude. For this, and other reasons, Philomena describes herself as a ‘death missionary’. She will raise the subject of death and dying in polite company and discuss it with anyone who shows an interest!