A community art project, led by local charity St Clare Hospice, stimulated thoughtful conversations in Harlow’s town centre on Tuesday 14th May, in celebration of national Dying Matters Awareness Week (13th – 19th May).

With three giant canvases for the public to write and draw on, the Hastingwood-based Hospice set up pitch on the morning of the 14th in The Harvey Centre, to encourage passers-by to talk about life, death and everything in between.

The three art boards were themed with thought provoking phrases

Each canvas was themed with a different topic: Before I die; When I die; and After I die; in line with this year’s theme #AreWeReady. Locals were encouraged to share their thoughts, hopes and wishes on a range of topics, both humorous and serious, related to life and death, including: personal goals or challenges; bucket list items; care planning for the end of life; funeral music; last meals; cremation and burial; and much more.

“The filled-up canvases tell it all,” says Sally Muylders, Community Engagement Manager at St Clare Hospice. “From family holidays and sentimental videos, to ‘making a million’ and having pie and mash as a last meal. The public, though recognising that talking about death and dying can be extremely difficult, did a very good job at addressing the subject! In fact, many agreed that talking about death and dying is absolutely crucial in ensuring that our wishes are known, so we can each experience death in the way we want to when the time comes.”

Local people from all walks of life came to engage with the project.

The community art project was in recognition of the annually celebrated Dying Matters Week, which is led by national charity Hospice UK and the National Council for Palliative Care.

Sally added, “Dying Matters Week is always a great opportunity for us to engage with the public about the importance of taking about death, dying and loss. The whole thing is such a taboo in the UK, and because of that many of us find ourselves with fear and anxiety at the thought of it, for our own deaths and for those we love – but it doesn’t always have to be that way. I think people are gradually coming around to the fact that talking about it can make things a little easier, which is what we found in Harlow during Dying Matters Week.

Rebecca Cussens, Communications Manager, and Sally Muylders, Community Engagement Manager at St Clare

“Thank you so much to everyone who came and said hello to us in the Harvey Centre – it really was a pleasure to meet so many lovely, local people and its with thanks to you that we were able to host a successful campaign and talk to even more people about such an important topic.”

Dying Matters Week fell just ahead of St Clare Hospice’s annual Wills Month in June, giving local people and families the opportunity to make or amend their Will with a local solicitor for a donation to the Hospice. Find your local participating solicitor at: stclarehospice.org.uk/event/wills-month