Living with dying

Jess Seymour - who last talked to us (Episode 28) about the untimely death of her husband Matt aged 35 is now involved in organising an Art Trail for Thames Hospice where he died.  She shares her mixed emotions about this and the way the work has helped her through her grief.

Palliative care nurse Louisa Nicoll has interesting views on choice around treatment options, more information for patients, and whether it is always a good idea to die at home:

Jacqueline Gunn founded a company called Workplace Bereavement Advocacy - designed to train up individuals in every company to find, and befriend anyone who's been bereaved within their organisation.  As so often happens, her work stems from her own bereavement - the death of her father:

Emma Gray is a solicitor turned grief counsellor and someone who helps people through the awful 'sadmin' that's involved when we suffer a bereavement.  She explains here how the tragedy of her husband's oesophageal cancer and death led her to a change of career.

I make a return visit to the Greenacres Chiltern Living Memorial Park where I'm given a guided tour - on a rather windy day and on a noisy buggy - while I learn about the facilities in this beautiful, tranquil space particularly suited to anyone who wants a natural burial or simply to rest in nature at the end of their days.

To mark Hospice UK's Dying Matters Awareness Week, I talk to Jenni McDonagh who's keen to sing the praises of hospices after she witnessed wonderful care for her husband Nick at Thames Hospice.  Since his death, she's devoted herself to fund-raising for the hospice, and an amazing sanctuary for families of children with cancer, which she runs and funds with her family.

Dr Lucy Pollock is a consultant geriatrician who has loads of advice about ageing well. We talk to her here about how to plan for our old age and death -  and how to live healthily and well in the meantime.

John Adams is a fourth generation funeral director who successfully campaigned for Bereavement, Death and Dying to be on the school curriculum.  He shares his views here around why it’s so important for all of us to talk about death - and particularly for small children to learn about it at an early stage.

John Troyer has been around death and dying his entire life. and is currently Death Scholar at Large for the University of Bath. Sadly, his entire family of sister, mother and father all died within the last few years. Here, he shares how his own experience impacts his work and how his work impacts his personal grief.

I recorded the following interview with Hazel Cooper on 6 February 2026.  She had just been given a terminal diagnosis and bravely chose to speak out about this and her forthcoming death.  I'm very sad to report that Hazel died in late March.  But happy to say that she died at home, just as she wished, peacefully and surrounded by her three sons and her grand-daughter.  Thank you Hazel for sharing...

Anyone bereaved know how it helps to find someone to talk to - and not just anyone but someone who's been through a similar bereavement. Maria Bailey and her team of Grief Specialists understand this - and will help you find the right help for you.

Rhian Manning's charity 2wish hit the headlines recently when Prince William visited her home and was filmed becoming emotional during their chat. 2wish is designed to offer help and support to any family who've experienced the sudden and unexpected death of a child or young person aged under 25. As she did.

When Joseph Cavalli-Price's mother was dying, he managed to find a way of playing the piano to her while in the hospice.  This inspired him to set up Music in Hospices and he tells the story of his journey.

For this episode, we visit a Bereavement Group which meets once a month at the GreenAcres Chiltern Living Memorial Park.  Here people who've lost someone recently, or long ago, meet up to swap notes and share experiences and feelings.  And they share that with us.

Paul Calandrino's wife - novelist Cai Emmons - decided to end her life once the devastating disease ALS took its hold.  They live in Oregon so she was able to choose when to die.  And she wanted a record of her decline and death - so they made a documentary about it called Vanishing - A Love Story.  He tells us more here:

Jane Harris and her husband set up the Good Grief Project on the sudden, unexpected death of her son while he was away travelling.  She describes the devastating impact of this loss and how they now devote their lives to helping others who lose children.

Extraordinarily, this week we celebrate two years of this podcast, and we mark this by talking to the CEO of Thames Hospice, where I found so much help and support in the early days.   Dr Rachael de Caux is a passionate exponant of hospice care and here she talks about her work and unveils the huge range of care available today in her hospice.

Lucy Easthope is well known for her two best selling books - When the Dust Settles and Come What May - both detailing the wisdom from her years of expertise in the disaster and crisis management field. So I asked her what lessons for bereavement can be drawn from her wide experience?

Nina Nannar - ITV's Arts Editor - found her life turned upside down three years ago when her husband of 23 years, Steve, died after complications caused by kidney disease. She talks movingly here of how she managed to continue with her high-pressured, public facing role having been plunged suddenly into deep grief.

In many of these episodes we've learnt how finding people who've been through a very similar experience can be the best help in bereavement.  Here, Maxine and Marilyn who've both found help from their local bereavement group Oasis, describe how helpful t's been.

Dr Bill Webster - Grief Counsellor, and author and founder of The Grief Journey - is on tour in the UK at the moment presenting seminars on his experience of grief and loss and his advice for the bereaved and those who surround them.  He shares his long and wide experience with us.

Most people who are widowed will talk afterwards about how they flailed around, went numb, didn't know what they were doing or how they were feeling in the early stages of grief.  And yet it's at that time when decisions have to be made, action taken. Suzanne Elvidge drew on her own experience to set up the Widows Handbook and talks about it here.

Richard Chalmers and friends recognised a need in their community for bereavement support some 20 years ago.  Since then, they've been running regular support groups for the bereaved - where people come together to eat/drink and mostly chat.

Most of us who've not experienced death worry about what it's going to be like - whether that's our own death or that of our loved ones.  Doulas can help take fear of the unknown away for people at the end of life - and their families.  Catherine Beer joins us again to explain more here.

Lee Wakeham has a horrendous story to tell - of being abandoned by his mother aged two, of abuse during his first foster care placement, leading to years of offending and time in prison. So how did  he turn his life around after such huge losses? He now runs successful pasty-making business - HMPasties - that employs ex-offenders and has been taken under the Co-op's wing via its incubator scheme -...