A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.
Death Cafes are always offered:
- On a not for profit basis
- In an accessible, respectful and confidential space
- With no intention of leading people to any conclusion, product or course of action
- Alongside refreshing drinks and nourishing food – and cake!
In 2010 Jon Underwood from the UK decided to develop projects related to the subject of death, one of which was to focus on talking about death. In November Jon read about the work of Bernard Crettaz in the Independent newspaper. Inspired by Bernard's work, Jon immediately decided to use similar model for his own project, and Death Cafe was born.
The first Death Cafe in the UK was offered in Jon's house in Hackney, East London in September 2011. It was facilitated by pychotherapist Sue Barsky Reid, Jon's mum. They went on to offer Death Cafes in a range of places including funky cafes, people's houses, cemeteries, a yurt and the Royal Festival Hall.
Jon and Sue Barsky Reid produced a guide to running a Death Cafe, based around the methodology Sue developed. Subsequently hundreds of people have adopted the idea to provide Death Cafes across the globe including South Africa. In this podcast episode "Let's have coffee and talk about Death" we talk to a facilitator at the Cape Town Death Cafe, Gill Faris. Listen here:The Story Teller
This chapter of the Death Cafe can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/letstalkaboutdeathcpt.
You can also find more information at Death Cafe
