Hospice in the Weald’s campaign helping everyone better prepare for the inevitable
Talking about death, dying and loss is never easy but Hospice in the Weald is hoping to change this with the launch of a new campaign.
Designed to encourage more open and honest conversations about end-of-life matters, ‘It’s never too early to..’ is a series of monthly online instalments featuring top tips and video interviews with experts.
It is aimed at patients and their loved ones, and the wider community too, to help everyone better prepare for death, whatever stage of life they are at.
The first instalment focuses on ‘getting your affairs in order’ and includes tips on the practical aspects of leaving your family, estate and legacies in good order to make things as easy as possible when you are gone. The next two which are being rolled out across the coming months focus on
how to ‘communicate your wishes’ and how to ‘plan your own funeral’.
The Hospice, which provides care across west Kent and northern East Sussex, designed the campaign to help everyone start ‘that conversation’.
Jane Pantony, Hospice in the Weald’s Head of Counselling and Support, said: “We plan so much around births and weddings, so why don’t we plan more around our deaths?
“Working in the hospice sector, we have all seen the – often unintended – impact of patients having not planned ahead. We hope our new campaign will give people that starting point and the tools to talk more openly, so they can make informed choices about end-of-life care options.
We hope to help many more people better prepare for something that is one of the only certainties in life.”
The campaign is part of wider work being developed by the Hospice to help more people in its community be better prepared for when the inevitable comes and includes plans to support local schools.
Along with backing a recent petition, led by the National Association of Funeral Directors, calling for Parliament to consider including bereavement lessons as part of the national curriculum, the Hospice is developing resources for local schools to encourage more open conversations about grief
and is working with local organisations on bereavement support training for schools.
Jane added: “We believe that opening conversations about death in a safe, supportive way in the classroom could help children experiencing grief to feel more understood and may better prepare all young people for an inevitable part of life, at whatever stage they encounter it.”
Find out more at http://hospiceintheweald.org.uk.
I think this is an excellent campaign.
My husband had bladder cancer following , after years , prostatectomy . He later had a kidney out, and it seemed that as time went by his love of his family and his sense of humour kept him going. He made a will and arranged power of attorney, and kept these documents in a safe box. He also told me that he wanted to be buried and also the words he would like to have written over his grave. All this has been a great help to me and our family, but I do feel that “It’s never too early to…” is an admirable campaign, and could save people from heart ache at times when they are emotional or stressed. My husband died in September and his funeral will be held very soon. I hope that I will be even better prepared for my death , for the sake of my family. My thanks to you for the Campaign.