‘Dying Matters’

 – a Seminar held at Barrowden Village Hall and sponsored by St. Peter’s PCC, 19 February 2019.

 

As part of its public service, St. Peter’s Church organised the evening to help us understand the process of dying and the help available in the community at particular points in the journey.

30 people were present to hear short presentations by 5 experts:

Dr. John Merritt (a physician) explored the medical definition of death, the legal responsibilities of doctors and relatives and the problems of medical cover in the rural area. He also revealed that only 5.7% of deaths occur in a hospice (2016 statistics).

Jacky McBlain (a practitioner from LOROS, jackymcblain@loros.co.uk) discussed the resources of our local hospice cover. During discussion it became very apparent that bed-spaces were very limited in the area.

The Rev. Dr. Peter Jupp (a theologian) shared the Christian background to our current approach to death and the wide variations of attitude to death even within a single denomination.

Eddie Dorman (a local Funeral Director, edward.dorman@btinternet.com) spoke about registration of a death, the rising costs of coping with death and ways to mitigate the expenditure.

Paul Belliere-Wilson (a solicitor, paul.belliere-wilson@buckles-law.co.uk) briefly surveyed the importance of making a will and the value of powers of attorney.

 

During the limited time for discussion it became clear that this dispelling of myths was critical.  All the commercial experts – who gave their time freely – were happy to be consulted further via their emails.

 

Christopher Armstrong