Chesterfield funeral directors to stage event to open up difficult conversations during Dying Matters Awareness Week

Harold Lilleker and Sons is supporting Dying Matters Awareness Week, an event which this year is taking place between May 2 and May 6.

Starting on Tuesday, the Hasland-based firm will be taking over the former Wards Shoe shop in the Pavement Shopping Centre and will be supported by Ashgate Hospice to break down barriers and get people talking more freely about dying.

They will also be joined by representatives from various organisations throughout the week, with many focused around the campaign theme of loneliness.

Rachel Tustin, funeral arranger at Harold Lilleker and Sons, said: “Ashgate will be there everyday and throughout the week we’ve got other organisations who’ve said they’ll come along, such as the Woodland Burial Company who will be talking about alternative, eco options.

"We’ve got a couple of mental health charities, a men’s one called Mentell and Rethink; The Tomorrow Project, which is a suicide bereavement support service; and the Macmillan Unit from Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

"Derbyshire Voluntary Action are also going to call in, they do a lot around loneliness and connecting people. The Royal British Legion are also sending some veterans and I’ve got an end-of-life doula who is going to pop in throughout the week.”

Dying Matters Awareness Week is run yearly and focuses on the importance of talking about and planning all aspects of death, including how to write a will, communicate funeral wishes and discuss the end of life.

Rachel added: “It’s about having that conversation. Working in funerals, I get people all the time that haven’t talked to their family and haven’t had those conversations so they come in and have got no idea what that person wanted.

"I know those conversations are difficult but we do need to talk about it. Talking about it is not going to cause it. Even silly things like if you’re wanting to go into Ashgate at the end of your life or if what you want if you’re in a coma, you can put these things in place.”

Harold Lilleker and Sons will be at Unit 25, Middle Pavement Shopping Centre, between 9am and 4pm on Tuesday, May 3, to Friday, May 6.

Support your Derbyshire Times by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.