The event will include talks, workshops, conversations and information areas.

Programme

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10am - 11.15am in the Education Room (upstairs):

Introducing our sponsors:

• Woodland Wishes: Tracy O’Leary, green funeral director and founder of Woodland Wishes will talk about green and alternative funerals and will dispel many of the myths that surround what must happen when someone dies. She will be available throughout the day to talk about  more personal approaches to planning funerals.

• Thomson Webb and Corfield Solicitors: Richard Lane of TWC will be on hand throughout the day to give practical advice on writing wills and setting up Lasting Power of Attorney documents.

End of Life and How to Plan for it

• Dr Lorraine Petersen, palliative care consultant at Addenbrookes and medical director at Arthur Rank will talk about palliative care support available at the end of life.

• Dr Vilas Navapurkar, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia at Addenbrookes will be joining us to talk to us about what happens when people are admitted to an ICU.

• Professor Celia Kitzinger will talk about the importance of creating legally binding documents to ensure that your wishes about your treatment and care will be respected at the end of your life and about her personal family experience illustrating what can happen when we don’t think about these issues in advance. She regularly runs workshops on this issue for members of the public and health care professionals and will offer very practical advice on creating these documents for yourself.  She is a founder of the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre and Advance Decisions Assistance.

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You can download Celia's slides here.

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11.15am - 11.45am in the cafe area (downstairs)

• The Arthur Rank Hospice are kindly donating refreshments which will be served in the cafe area. Please consider donating generously to their important work at the hospice supporting people at the end of their life.

• Information tables in the cafe area continuing throughout the day.

• Video booth in the quiet room (downstairs) continuing throughout the day. An opportunity to capture your thoughts on death, dying and living (entirely optional).

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11.45am - 12.45am in the cafe area (downstairs)

Open Space conversations/workshops

In this session there will be the opportunity for anyone to propose a conversation topic and invite others to join them. The space will then be open for each of us to move between conversations as our interest takes us.

Details of conversations/workshops already planned can be found below.
 
12.45am - 1.45pm in the cafe area (downstairs)

• Lunch will be available to purchase in the cafe area including soup, chilli, baked potatoes and sandwiches. There will be vegan and gluten free options.

• Information tables and video booth.
   

1.45pm - 2.45pm in the Education Room (upstairs):

Supporting ourselves and others

• Filipa Pereira Stubbs of DanceMoves brings dance and movement to many groups across the community including the elderly and those living with dementia. She offers movement sessions at Addenbrookes Hospital across three wards including the Department of Medicine for the Elderly and Neuro-rehabilitation. Filipa will offer music and movement workshop during the afternoon open space.

• Allison Bentley, is an Admiral Nurse working with the Arthur Rank Hospice and Dementia UK providing specialist dementia support for families and patients at the end of life.

• Companion Voices - singing for the end of life. We will hear about this group of singers who can be called to the bedside of people who are dying, to share their voices and loving presence. Companion Voices will offer a workshop during the afternoon open space where people can experience being sung to, and being part of Companion Voices.

 

2.45pm - 3.15pm in the cafe area (downstairs)

• The Arthur Rank Hospice are kindly donating refreshments which will be served in the cafe area. Please consider donating generously to their important work at the hospice supporting people at the end of their life.

• Information tables and video booth.

 

3.15pm - 4.15pm in the cafe area (downstairs)

Open Space conversations/workshops

In this session there will be the opportunity for anyone to propose a conversation topic and invite others to join them. The space will then be open for each of us to move between conversations as our interest takes us.

Details of conversations/workshops already planned can be found below.

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4.15pm - 4.30pm in the cafe area (downstairs)

Closing

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Open Space Sessions

These will offer the opportunity for anyone to propose a conversation topic and invite others to join them. The space will then be open for each of us to move between conversations as our interest takes us.

​

Conversations/workshops already offered

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Advance Decisions (morning)

Celia Kitzinger will run a workshop offering very practical advice on creating legally binding documents to ensure that your wishes about your treatment and care will be respected at the end of your life.

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Wills and Power of Attorney (morning and afternoon)

Richard Lane of Thomson Webb and Corfield Solicitors will offer practical information on writing Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney to to ensure that your wishes about your treatment and care will be respected at the end of your life.

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Faith and End of Life (morning)

with Dr Mehrunisha Suleman who's research explores Muslim perspectives on end of life care and Keith Morrison, chaplain at the Arthur Rank Hospice.

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Speaking About Death (morning)

Christianne Heal will give us the opportunity to discuss our hopes and fears about our own death in this hour long taster of her award winning interactive workshop.

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The Power of Touch (morning and afternoon)

with Kate Rudder, complementary therapist at the hospice

Kate, who is trained in the M-Technique, will be available to talk about the power of touch and to show those who are interested this simple, gentle and deeply relaxing hand massage.

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Extinction Rebellion Cambridge (morning)

Dave McKenny of Extinction Rebellion Cambridge will host a conversation on the parallels between the death denial in our culture on a personal level with regard to our own mortality and the wider issue of denial by our society of the issues of climate breakdown and ecological crisis which are resulting in what has been called the 6th mass extinction and the non-zero possibility of human extinction.

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Soul Midwifery  (time to be announced)

with Jo Franklin, soul midwife and palliative care nurse.

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5Ts for bereavement support  (time to be announced)

with Ian Morris, retired Addenbrookes Hospital chaplain

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Poetry reading with Alice Willitts (afternoon)

Alice will be reading a short selection of narrative poems from the recently published Dear, which asks who is mother and who is child when dementia arrives in a family? These moving poems tell a story of love, loss, tenderness and joy in the mother daughter relationship. They play with language and form to reveal the many slow losses of death from dementia and give hope to those left behind. Alice is a plantswoman and poet whose mother died of Lewy body dementia caused by Parkinson’s Disease.

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DanceMoves (afternoon)

Filipa Pereira Stubbs will lead a workshop with music exploring how dance and movement can support us.

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Companion Voices  (afternoon)

The group will offer the opportunity for people to experience being sung to, and being part of Companion Voices.

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Video Booth

An opportunity to capture your thoughts on death, dying and living (entirely optional)!

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Thank you to all of you for coming along and bringing your own experiences, thoughts, feelings and ideas to this event along with your interest and willingness to be a part of this taboo-breaking day.

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I'm sorry to announce that Professor Guy Brown and Bhante Samitha are no longer able to join us.

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Please note - this event is about an exchange of ideas, and is not offering grief support or counselling. As we are discussing sensitive topics, please take personal responsibility for your own wellbeing.

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There will volunteers from Cambridge Cruse Bereavement Care available through the day if you would like someone to talk to.

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