SALFORD’S first Death Café is gearing up to mark six months since it first opened this Friday.
The Blue Lotus Death Café, at The Angel Centre in Salford, has been holding tea parties where attendees can talk about death since September 2016.
The concept first drew headlines in Manchester after its success had spread from London across the world.
In the Death Cafés, those who wish to attend can drink tea and eat snacks and discuss various aspects of death and dying.
Salfords ' First ' Death Cafe
@ The Angel Centre St Philips Place Salford M3 6FA 7th October 3pm pic.twitter.com/yYUfLhL9ap— Blue Lotus Therapy (@bluelotustherap) September 25, 2016
The café has guests who come to stimulate discussions of different aspects of death, and how people can best prepare for the eventual time.
[pullquote]”I’ll be here doing this until my last breath”[/pullquote]
The Salford branch of the scheme is run by Mandi Weston, of Worseley, who set up the café after training in Spain as an end-of-life therapist.
She said: “We provide things that people don’t think about, like living wills and funeral plans. We are making people aware of these things.
“We have a friend who comes and he isn’t afraid of death but he doesn’t want to die alone, and I’ve promised him he won’t. So I have his number for when that time comes.”
The cafés take place on the first and third Friday of every month.
Everything in the café is free of charge and is provided on a voluntary basis.
Mandi said that she recognised the taboo around the subject of death, but she is hopeful for the future.
She said: “Until we get people to break the barriers down we’ll still have issues surrounding deaths. I’ll be here doing these until my last breath.”
The Death Café was first set up by Jon Underwood in Hackney, London, and has since spread all over the world including the first Death Café in Peru starting this month.
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