Dying Matters Awareness Week, May 2-6, 2022

Are you #InAGoodPlace to talk about death, dying and grief? Talking about death and dying can be tough. Hospice UK’s resources will help you, your family and friends to start the conversation.

It’s important that we all know what it means for us and our loved ones to be in a good place to die – physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, and crucially, with the right care and support in place.

However, we know that right now people are dying without the support they need.

Dying Matters Awareness Week, 2-6 May, is our chance to open up the conversation around death, dying and grief, remove the stigma that surrounds it and call for meaningful change so that everyone gets the quality end of life care they deserve.

Rally your friends, colleagues and community to join the Dying Matters movement. Get involved, and download our resource pack

Awareness Week resource pack for libraries

This year for the first time we are proud to have worked with Libraries Connected to produce a special resource pack for libraries, to help them get involved with Dying Matters Awareness Week.

Libraries are at the heart of their communities and our pack is here to help your local library with ideas and suggestions for simple things they can do during awareness week.

Download the resource pack today

Awareness Week Posters

We’ve produced two posters to help you raise awareness during Dying Matters Awareness Week.

Download the ‘Five books to help us think about dying, death and grief’ poster here, which shares themed book recommendations from author and palliative care expert Kathryn Mannix.

Download the ‘We’re participating in Dying Matters Awareness Week’ poster here, to let people know about your event.

PDFs and print-ready leaflets

Our five leaflets, available to print or in digital format, help you deal with different aspects of death, dying and bereavement.

1. Things to do before you die [single page version] [professional print version]

2. Supporting bereavement [single page version] [professional print version]

3. Let’s talk about dying [single page version] [professional print version]

4. Talking about dying with people affected by dementia [single page version] [professional print version]

5. Talking about dying with children [single page version] [professional print version]

The leaflets are designed to be printed as A5 roll fold, and the recommended paper weight is 150gsm silk or similar. If you are printing on a home or office printer, you can print as ordinary sheets and staple in the corner or long edge. If you need a large print version you can print them at A4.

Planning ahead

The Planning Ahead tool will lead you, step by step, to think about your own values and the things that matter most to you in life and in dying. It will offer you a chance to think about the pros and cons of being cared for at home, or in hospital.

Get started

Dying Matters Podcast

There are 16 episodes of the Dying Matters podcast, discussing everything from the importance of music at the end of life to tackling racism in palliative care, with guests including Dr Kathryn Mannix, actor Greg Wise, and Dr Rachel Clarke.