What is a coffin club?
Coffin Clubs seek to give non-judgmental and impartial advice about how to plan a
funeral. They originated in New Zealand when a group of women decided they
wanted to take control of their own end-of-life choices after discovering there really wasn’t a great deal on offer. So they decided to get together to discuss options and choices all whilst building a coffin together.
Coffin Club is a not for profit, educational space with the intention of providing people with knowledge and choice. At its heart Coffin Club seeks to normalise
conversations around death, dying and funerals. We know this gives better mental
health outcomes when death comes into our lives – as it inevitably will.
The reason I personally wanted to run a local Coffin Club is because I am passionate about sharing the information I have learnt and the experience I have gained since my parents died. Had I known then what I know now I would have made very different choices. I didn’t know, for example, that you can care for your person at home for a little while after they’ve died – under the right conditions of course. This extra time caring for your person in a safe, familiar space can, I believe, really help with the grieving process. Instead our people are often whisked away not to be seen again.
A Coffin Club presents the choices available without putting any value on them.
What’s right for one person might not be right for another. One person’s ideas of the
perfect finale may be a direct cremation followed by a simple family-only gathering, another’s may be a huge celebration of life with them present in the coffin with jugglers, musicians, show tunes - even fireworks. That’s right, the person can be there in the coffin with the permission of the venue/location of course.
Coffin Club doesn’t care what decision you make for your last hurrah we just want it
to be an informed decision. So with that in mind we call on experts to help us, as
while we know a lot, we don’t know everything. We collaborate with local independent funeral directors, death doulas, solicitors, crematoria managers, natural burial ground owners, hospice teams and a whole host of other talented and committed professionals working in the industry. As an independent celebrant I’ll of course provide guidance and advice from my perspective but there are also other celebrants, humanists for example, who would come to talk from theirs.
Coffin Club doesn’t offer bereavement support or grief counselling though of course we can suggest local groups who do offer this service.
We want to educate and facilitate open conversations about death and dying and
help people to reclaim a participatory relationship with death whilst building strong,
supportive community.
Interested? Then watch this space for info on upcoming events and follow us on facebook and instagram or contact me here or on the number below,
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