Dying to Know Day (August 8th) is an annual campaign that activates community members and organisations to host events that encourage critical discussion and planning around death, dying and grief. Each year hundreds of events are put on across the country ranging from death cafes to Q&A’s, art exhibitions and film screenings - all with the intention of generating these critical conversations.
2020 is the 8th year of the campaign and like most things in the time of COVID-19, this year the campaign is looking a little different!
Rather than encouraging widespread community events, this year we decided to bring the events to people in the safety of their own home, we’ve called it; Dying to Know Day - Home Delivered.
The coronavirus has brought to the forefront both how crucial planning well for our end of life is and has also highlighted how resilient and interconnected our communities can be in times of crisis and vulnerability. Dying to Know Day is about supporting both of these things.
Over the last couple of months we’ve worked with trusted partners to deliver free, online events that offer insight into different aspects of end of life planning; from organising a funeral under COVID-19 to getting to know end of life doulas to where to begin when writing your will. You can find recordings of these webinars on our website.
Now, in the lead up to Dying to Know Day on the 8th of August, we’re excited to present more events that better equip our communities when it comes to end of life planning.
There are many community run events covering a range of topics from grief information sessions, coping with anniversaries and special occasions, tackling end of life conversations with ageing parents.
As restrictions begin to ease across the country, we encourage these vital conversations now and as a focus well into the future and invite you to attend any of the online events that may interest you or to host your own event to spark end of life conversations in your local community.
For more information on what events are scheduled and how you might get involved, go to: https://www.thegroundswellproject.com/dying-to-know-day
Or follow the campaign on social media:
Facebook @thegroundswellproject
Instagram @thegroundswellprojectau
Twitter @groundswellaus
Holly Rankin-Smith, Communications Director, The GroundSwell Project