Debbie Young

Good Death, Good Grief – funded by the National Lottery

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Good Death, Good Grief – funded by the National Lottery We are so pleased to have been awarded a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund for our new project Good Death, Good Grief. Our Good Death, Good Grief project aims to create more opportunities for open conversations about death, dying and grief in Waltham […]

Launching Creating Conversations CIC

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Launching Creating Conversations CIC I am delighted to be launching our community interest company: Creating Conversations along with Co-Director Alberta Gutteridge. Alberta and I launched the North East London Death Cafe two years ago and, 20 events later, we are overwhelmed by the need for people to be able to get together to share experiences […]

Engaging with the local community about end of life care services

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Engaging with the local community about end of life care services My work is all about creating opportunities and spaces for people to talk openly about death, dying and grief. I was therefore very excited when I was recently commissioned, by an NHS End of Life Care Transformation Programme, to interview local people about their […]

Five things to do for Dying Matters Awareness Week

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Five things to do for Dying Matters Awareness Week It’s Dying Matters Awareness Week all this week (2nd to 6th May). In some ways, it’s always Dying Matters Awareness week for me. It’s what my work is all about; creating opportunities and spaces for people to talk openly about dying and grief and plan for […]

No two Death Cafes are ever the same

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No two Death Cafes are ever the same I love how every Death Cafe is so different and our North East London Death Cafe on Saturday 4th April 2022 was no exception. I heard thoughts and experiences that I had never heard before. In my group, people shared how the Death Cafe had provided a […]

A cassette load of memories

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A cassette load of memories Rituals and memories are common themes at our North East London Death Cafes. At our last Death Cafe, during a discussion about funerals, we talked about whether people film or take photos at funerals and if this is appropriate. We definitely don’t record funerals in the same way that we […]

January has been all about collaborating

Debbie Alberta

January has been all about collaborating January, for me, has been all about collaborating. I’ve been reaching out more on social media, meeting new people, sharing ideas and chatting about possible new projects. As we move into a new month, I’ve been reflecting on why I am enjoying collaborating so much. The focus of my […]

Making Friends with Death

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Making Friends with Death I recently listened to this fascinating BBC radio programme that explores whether talking more about death can help make us happier. From our experience of hosting Death Cafes, we’ve clearly observed how talking about death helps people feel more connected to life and when people have end of life plans in […]

Script writing for Haringey’s ‘We’re Open’ Bitesize sexual health films

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Script writing for Haringey’s ‘We’re Open’ Bitesize sexual health films Over the last 9 months I’ve been working with Anna Martinez from the Public Health Team at Haringey Council to help create a series of five Bitesize sexual health films for young people and practitioners as part of Haringey’s ‘We’re Open’ Campaign. My role was to […]

Why attend a Death Cafe

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Why attend a Death Cafe It’s amazing how a group of strangers can talk so openly about death. But that is exactly what happened on 6th November 2021 when we hosted our second Death Cafe at East of Eden Cafe in Walthamstow. People often ask us about who attends a Death Cafe and the answer […]