IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH CAFéS

BRUMMIES are invited to start chatting at a series of ‘Let’s Talk’ events during this year’s A Matter of Life and Death Festival.

Organised by BrumYODO, a community interest company dedicated to encouraging open and honest conversations about death, dying and grief, the free events offer informal and safe spaces for discussion.

Taking place during the national Dying Matters Awareness Week of May 2-6, BrumYODO is working with museums, community centres, cafés and a natural burial ground.

The week features a number of ‘Death Cafés’, free events at which people gather for informal chats around subjects linked to death and dying.

These are scheduled to take place at Soho House Museum in Handsworth on May 3 between 11am-12.30pm, Galanos House Community Hub in Southam on May 5 between 2.30-4pm, Sun Rising Natural Burial Ground in Warwickshire on May 5 between 6-7.30pm and Bearwood Community Hub on May 6 between 12-1.15pm.

Tell it To the Bees at Moseley Hive will see local storyteller Pyn Stockman sharing the tale of the Bee Charmer, a story of loss and belonging. Beginning at 6pm on May 4, it will be followed by an optional Death Café.

Death Over Drinks at the Anjuna Lounge in Stirchley on May 5 between 6.30-8pm is a discussion alongside Indian street food and drinks. And on May 7 from 1-3pm, the BrumYODO team team up with Weoley Castle for Death in the Middle Ages, a tour of the castle grounds and exploration of commemorations carried out hundreds of years ago.

Now in its sixth year, A Matter of Life and Death Festival uses cultural and arts events as a springboard to explore issues around death and dying.

BrumYODO chair Anna

Lock said: “A Matter of Life and Death is now firmly established in Birmingham’s festival calendar.

“This year’s festival comes just two months after Birmingham was officially designated the UK’s first Compassionate City.”

For more details and to book visit www.brumyodo.org.uk