Let's open up the conversation in a relaxed, informal way.

Blog: After Wards

There's much more to death than we think; what if it isn’t just an ending, but an event we can plan for?

Thinking beyond the four walls of hospices and hospitals, we have the chance to approach it with confidence and plan a good death. After Wards is a collection of insights and ideas from people who can help us all to re-imagine this essential part of life, and to live well until we die.

Check out our After Wards blog.

Events

Pilgrims organises a wide variety of events to encourage our local community in east Kent to come together and talk about death, life, bereavement and end-of-life care – subjects that we often avoid in our daily lives.

Death Cafes provide a safe space to discuss death and dying without objectives or an agenda.

"It was fascinating. I loved the mix of people, all ages and backgrounds and careers. Death is part of our lives; I think it's time we talked about it."

Karen Bartholomew, a local playwright who attended her first Death Cafe at Pilgrims in 2017

Watch this space for news about upcoming Death Cafe events, or check out our events page.

Dying Matters Awareness Week is an annual campaign by Hospice UK.

Every year, people and organisations around the UK use it as a moment to encourage all communities to get talking about death and dying in whatever way, shape or form works for them.

Pilgrims Hospices often host events during the week, to raise awareness and open up the conversation around death and dying.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Play and Pause - Your favourite funeral music and poetry

During Dying Matters Awareness Week (11-17 May 2020), we asked you to share the music and poetry you would like at your funeral – inspiring, joyful, funny or poignant.

The theme for 2020, #DyingToBeHeard, focused on how to help by listening.

We created a YouTube playlist and hope you will keep adding to it; we will leave it open for anyone to contribute and would love you to get involved. Full details are below.

How to share the songs and poems you would like at your funeral

1. Log into YouTube; if you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one.

2. Click here to access our YouTube playlist. Then, click the blue ‘Continue’ button near the top.

3. Search for a song or poem you’d like to add, then on the video itself click the ‘Save’ icon underneath the video and tick the box next to the ‘Play and Pause’ playlist title.

That’s it, done!

We love hearing the songs and poems that are meaningful to you.

As part of the Canterbury Festival’s HeArt of the City art trail, we displayed a selection of artwork created by local school children in our Burgate Books shop window. Each piece engaged with the theme ‘What Makes You Unique?’

Launched at the end of 2019, the What Makes You Unique? exhibition was later displayed at The Beaney in 2021.

A preview of some of the amazing art submitted was on view at Burgate Books from 17-31 October 2020.

At Canterbury Festival 2019, we facilitated a performance of Outside the Box: A Live Show About Death by Liz Rothschild.

Check out our interview with Liz below.

Thank you so much for your support

We host community events throughout the year for the general public, aiming to open up the conversation about death and dying; with film screenings, poetry readings and Death Cafes and much more, there’s something for everyone. Check out our latest upcoming events.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with a life limiting illness, find out about the full range of services Pilgrims can offer.