VISITORS to a Bradford bar will be invited to chat about death over a pint or cocktail as part of a push to get more people talking about the taboo subject.

Wallers Brewery in Sunbridgewells will host a Death Cafe next month, where people will be able to pop into the pub to chat about reaching the end of your life with undertakers and medical experts.

Although such events have become increasingly popular in recent years, this is thought to be the first case of a Death Cafe being held in a city centre bar.

The session, on Friday May 12, is one of the local events being held in Bradford as part of this year’s Dying Matters Week, running from May 8 to 14.

Organiser Joanne Mullarkey, a research nurse at the University of Bradford, hopes the event will make people feel more comfortable talking about dying, something she says our society does not do enough.

The free event, which runs from 2pm until around 4pm, will be attended by local funeral directors and special death themed cocktails will be available.

The university set up the Let’s Talk Death group in 2014 to open up discussions about dying. It is a topic most avoid, meaning they reach the end of their lives without having properly discussed vital issues like funeral arrangements, wills and organ donation with family and friends.

Other events being held during the week include a Death Cafe at the University on Monday May 8 from 11am to 2pm, another at the Marie Curie Hospice on Tuesday May 9 from 11am to 2pm, and a community session at the Life Centre church from 10am to noon on Thursday May 11. Also on Thursday, Speaker’s Corner on Ivegate will host a Death Cafe from 6pm until 8pm.

Mrs Mullarkey said: “It is everything people wanted to talk about death but are scared to ask.

“With all these different events we are trying to cover different groups of people. The bar event is more for the younger crowd, we wanted it so people could pop in and speak to funeral directors, something they might not normally think about doing.

“We’ve decided to try something different with this one, as we didn’t always get as wide a range of people at other Death Cafes.”

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