Redbridge Death Cafe
A write up of Redbridge Death Cafe
By LGrainger
The London Borough of Redbridge held its first Death Café on 9th May to mark Dying Matters Awareness Week and to start our own ‘Big conversation’.
17 people attended and enjoyed afternoon tea in the Hardback café in the main library in Ilford.
Ice breakers to start the conversation weren’t needed as the conversation flowed and we discussed our feelings about death and related matters. People shared their personal experiences and there were tears and laughter.
The evaluations were very positive with comments like “informative, friendly and lively”, “enlightening, heart-warming & thought provoking” and ”it’s completely different to what people think”.
The challenge for the future is to reach the people who find the prospect of talking about death something they shy away from and show them that a Death Cafe actually is different to what they expect .