A "death cafe" in Belfast is now into its fourth year of sparking conversations to help people overcome fears about mortality.
The free monthly events offer people a chance to come together to chat about the topic of death over coffee and cake. The first death cafe in Belfast was set up in 2018 by qualified therapist and funeral celebrant, Rachel Smith.
Funeral Arranger, Lisa Hutchinson, later came on board offering a venue and support for the event, which is held every month at James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors in Dunmurry.
Read more: The ‘death cafe’ in Co Tyrone trying to get people to open up about end of life
Speaking about the concept of a death cafe, Rachel said it's "straightforward enough." She explained: "A group of people come together to talk about death for a couple of hours.
"It isn’t a support or bereavement group, and we don’t provide counselling. Culturally we don’t talk about death, so we want to use the death cafe to help people feel more at ease when discussing the subject.
"It is about having conversations about your thoughts and emotions in a comfortable and safe place to help people overcome any fears they may have.”
The death cafe, which is run on a voluntary basis, is part of a world movement based on the ideas of sociologist Bernard Crettaz who ran a series of Café Mortels in Switzerland. Inspired by Crettaz’s work, Jon Underwood and Sue Barky-Reid developed the Death Cafe model and held their first event in London in 2011.
People attending are often unknown to each other, and they come together to chat about topics relating to death and dying in an informal and non-judging environment.
Lisa Hutchinson said: “The underpinning principle behind Death Café is ‘to increase an awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.
“Talking about death might also help some people express their wishes about their own funeral. This can be a support to families when the time comes. As a Funeral Arranger, I see how families take comfort from the conversations they had with their loved one, and that the arrangements they are making are in keeping with their loved ones wishes.”
Three death cafe events have taken place in Belfast so far, with numbers growing at the most recent event held in June.
Members of the public, funeral celebrants, students, artists and funeral professionals have all joined together to break the silence around a subject still largely considered taboo. Those attending report having found the event both enjoyable and beneficial.
The next Death Café Belfast event will take place on Sunday, August 14 from 3pm-5pm at James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors in Dunmurry. Further details can be found on the ‘Death Café Belfast’ Facebook page.
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