What is Dying Matters?

It is a campaign to promote public awareness and debate on issues of death dying and bereavement in England.

Where has it come from?

The End of Life Strategy (DH July 2008) looked at many aspects of end of life care and highlighted the fact that death remains a taboo subject in our society. Only 34% people have discussed their wishes with family, friends or carers. (BBC Good Death Survey 2006) As a result of the Strategy a National Coalition ‘Dying Matters’ has been set up by the National Council for Palliative Care, supported by the Dept of Health.

What does it hope to do?

Engage and involve thousands of organisations from all sectors, schools, colleges, businesses, voluntary organisations, churches, individual families, the media, libraries, hospital trusts, primary care trusts and many, many more and encourage them to promote discussion around death and dying.

Why is it important?

If people don’t talk about what they want, it is unlikely that they will have their wishes met at the end of their life. People may die without writing a will or leaving future plans and relatives are left unsure about funeral wishes etc.

What can YOU do?

• Join the ‘Dying Matters’ Coalition, sign up today online at www.dyingmatters.org
• Display the ‘Dying Matters’ poster and literature obtainable from here.
• Have a look at the North West events
• 
• Just talk about it to your friends and family

What is happening locally?

A Dying Matters information van will visit one of the main supermarket car parks on the 16th March.
A public meeting has been held at Queenscourt Hospice and those attending are now planning how they can be involved.
A local sixth form college is making a short film about the hospice which they will take to all high schools during that week.
We are asking you, your business, shop, office, school, church, club, family, friends to get talking and help change attitudes and behaviours towards death dying and bereavement, and help make living and dying well a normal topic of conversation.
What sort of things could you do?
Include the topic in assemblies, citizenship, RE sessions in schools
Run an art or poetry competition for younger children
Have a section in a pub quiz with questions about death and dying
Talk to your family and friends over a glass of wine!
Ask them if they want to be buried or cremated?
How would they like to be remembered?
What music would they like at their funeral?
How many of them have made a will?
The sermon in all local churches could be about the subject
Local libraries display ‘Dying matters’ posters, display children’s books on death and dying

How can we tell everyone what we are doing?

Send a photo of your event titled ‘Dying Matters’- we have talked about it!’ to your local newspaper and a summary of what you did and what effect it had.
Let us know here at Queenscourt Hospice and we will publish it on our website.
We will be happy to come out and talk to as many people as we can if that will help but mostly it is about you, what you can do, that will make a difference to many people!

Don’t waste this opportunity. ‘Dying Matters’!    Have YOU talked about it?