'˜Death café' will serve up healthy discussion

The National Centre for Craft and Design (NCCD) will host its first “Death Café” on Monday, July 4.

Organiser Wendy Oldeshaw is facilitating the event at NCCD.

She said: “Within the circles of family and friends I have been fortunate to be involved in positive conversations about death, dying and loss, life and living.

“And having experienced loss in each decade of my life, I see the benefits of these conversations and introducing the Death Café within the wider arena of our area.”

The Death Café will complement NCCD’s Cause and Effect exhibition which aims to provide a thought-provoking exploration of artists’ responses to adversity.

The show centres on a body of work by ceramicist Julian Stair – Quietus: The Vessel, Death and the Human Body, exploring the containment of the human body after death.

Death Café is a national social franchise – the first of which was set up in London. The trend has seen others open up in Europe, North American and Australia.

Its group discussions have no set agenda, and the gatherings do not offer grief support or counselling, but an opportunity to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives”.

The Death Café welcomes everyone aged 18 or over to come together with others and join the discussion. Chocolate cake will be provided and other refreshments can be purchased in the café, situated in Carre Street, Sleaford.