Thank you to the 100+ people who joined us at this event and contributed to what turned out to be a very interesting afternoon.

You can read about the event and watch a couple of the talks here.

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What are your beliefs about death and beyond?
What’s important to you in your treatment and care at the end of your life and after your death?
How do your thoughts about death impact the way you choose to live your life?
How does your belief system, religious or otherwise, affect your views on these issues?

This afternoon will offer the chance to explore some of these issues using a mixture of short talks from speakers of different beliefs, and conversations amongst participants and speakers.
The session will be facilitated by Johnnie Moore of Creative Facilitation who will ensure that there will be plenty of opportunity for participants and speakers to explore together their own ideas, experiences and feelings around this topic.

Speakers (in alphabetical order)

Ila Chandavarkar comes from an Indian Hindu reformist family. She currently works with multi-faith, multi-ethnic organisations such as Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum and Peterborough Asylum and Refugee Community Association. She has worked with a wide range of voluntary sector organisations for over 30 years and has a strong interest in work that promote equalities, human rights, social justice, cohesion and integration. 

Canon Rosie Harper is Vicar of Great Missenden and chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham. She is a member of the General Synod, the legislative body of the Church of England, chair of the Oxford Nandyal Education Foundation, an education charity in rural Indian and writes for the Guardian. She is deeply committed to working for issues of justice and equality within and beyond the church.

Mike Levy has been an active member of the Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue for 25 years where he leads and writes for its drama group, helps run its social programme and regularly attends services. He has a Fellowship in Holocaust Education from the Imperial War Museum and is a freelance educator with the Holocaust Education Trust. He is a is a former journalist, sixth form teacher and is currently researching for a PhD at Anglia Ruskin University on the subject of local British volunteers in the refugee crises of the 1930s.

Bhante Samitha has been a Buddhist Monk for 35 years. He is originally from Sri Lanka and currently the head of Letchworth Buddhist Centre for education, Meditation, Psychotherapy & Counselling. He is a Hospital Chaplain and Mindfulness teacher at East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust. He has been promoting Mindfulness based well-being programmes for last 15 years in UK. 

Mehrunisha Suleman is a research associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research involves an analysis of the experiences of end of life care (EOLC) services in the UK, from the Muslim perspective. Before joining CIS, Mehrunisha studied various aspects of public health at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She has worked on the Department of Health’s QIPP Right Care Programme, as well as developing an online tool for commissioners, clinicians and patient groups on health care systems design. She is co-editor of the NHS Atlas of Variation for Diabetes and Liver Disease. She has also been appointed as an expert for UNESCO’s Ethics Teacher Training Programme.

Carrie Thomas is a member of the Humanist Society and was the humanist spokesperson on the BBC's Big Questions last year during the Dying Matters week. She works in end of life care, previously in a hospice as an end of life care coordinator and now predominantly in oncology at the Royal Free hospital as a clinical massage therapist. This is additional to pastoral support work.
In agreeing to speak she said "I care passionately about people understanding that we can face death with equanimity without a belief in any god or a vision of the after-life. And I shall be starting the funeral celebrancy training in September."

Whether or not your belief system is represented by one of these speakers we would be delighted if you would join us to bring your perspective to the conversation. Everyone will have the opportunity to invite other participants and speakers to join them in the conversation that they would like to have.