COFFEE, CAKE & COFFINS INSIDE AN AUSSIE DEATH CAFE

WELCOME TO A NEW KIND OF SHOP – WHERE DEATH IS ON THE MENU!

- Paul Ewart

At a pop-up cafe in Sydney, tea and coffee are brewing, while the sound of laughter fills the air from customers pleasantly chattering around a table.

Although it might sound cheery, the conversation is a little morbid. These cafegoers are talking about death as part of a growing movement of everyday people coming together to chat about taboo topic.

End-of-life counselor and funeral director, Victoria Spence, is leading the way in helping people open up to the discussion.

Having worked in the industry at the holistic funeral company, Life Rites, for nearly 20 years, Victoria wants to help people to talk about death before it’s too late.

“The goal of Death Cafe is to offer a simple way of meeting the idea, language and conversation of death wherever you are in your life, at whatever age,” Victoria tells New Idea. “It’s a safe place for your curiosities and questions, to discuss death, dying and grief.”

The idea for the Death Cafe came in 2010 by Jon Underwood. He decided to develop a series of projects focused on talking about death.