Why Dying Matters Awareness Week marks a time to talk for us all
May 10, 2021* image via dyingmatters.org It’s Dying Matters Awareness Week — a chance to talk about death and our end-of-life choices. Many of us don’t have an open discussion with our families about our funeral wishes. Indeed, recent research by Humanists UK found that 20 per cent of people were left feeling… Read more
Bereavement in the new normal: life after Covid for Saga Magazine
April 23, 2021There is no new normal post Covid. Every one of us is, after all, grieving to some degree. That’s the idea behind my first feature for Saga Magazine, an article I have been working on this past week. My article explores, through case studies and expert comment, the loss we… Read more
Why 1,546 is more than just a number — it’s a true national tragedy
January 13, 2021Today marked a grim milestone for the UK with the highest ever daily death toll — yet. The 1,546 people whose deaths were recorded today, all of them having died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, brought the pandemic death toll in the UK to over 100,000. Commentators… Read more
Why our own innate resilience is key to the art of not falling apart
December 14, 2020Christina Patterson understands loss. The journalist and broadcaster often talks about how she has survived cancer and is the last remaining member of her family, having most recently lost her brother. “I am,” she says, “the end of the line.” Yet she still finds ways to celebrate life with her… Read more
How to #SHAREYOURSTORY for National Grief Awareness Week
December 8, 2020The dome of St Paul’s Cathedral was illuminated in yellow tonight. The lighting up of this and other landmark buildings around the UK, accompanied by a live evening song transmission, was part of events to mark National Grief Awareness Week [pictured above]. The organisation behind it, The Good Grief Trust,… Read more
What the songwriter Nick Cave can teach us all about grief
November 25, 2020Nick Cave is an artist whose music I admire. I am, as a writer, always drawn to the narrative of his storytelling lyrics. But, after the tragic death of his son, Arthur, in an accident, Cave has also become something of a reluctant spokesperson for all of us who have… Read more