
Starting conversations about dying is often not as hard as you might think.
Every year, people around the country use Dying Matters Awareness Week as a moment to encourage all communities to get talking in whatever way, shape or form works for them. In 2023, Dying Matters Awareness Week took place from 8 - 14 May.
Dying matters at work, too
For Dying Matters Awareness Week 2023, we focused on Dying Matters at work.
57% of employees will have experienced a bereavement in the last five years and every day, more than 600 people quit work to look after older and disabled relatives. And yet, fewer than one in five managers feel very confident supporting someone they manage with a bereavement.
By talking to those around you, you can help us make sure that workplaces are properly set up to support people who are ill, who are caring for those around them, or who have lost someone close to them.
How you can get involved with Awareness Week
Everyone got involved in Dying Matters Awareness Week – whether with friends and family, with your company or in the community.
- Take our short quiz and discover how you can have meaningful and compassionate conversations with other people at work, in the community or at home.
- Find out what took place around the UK for Dying Matters Awareness Week - and is still happening throughout May.
- Our webinar on 'How to talk about death at work' took place on Thursday 11 May 2023. It was hosted by our Compassionate Employers programme, and attendees heard from Simon Blake, CEO Mental Health First Aid England and Aongola Victor Simuyemba, Bereavements Manager at Monzo.
- Keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and sign up to our email updates to hear the latest from Dying Matters Awareness Week in 2024.
And what about your workplace?
Could you and your colleagues benefit from dedicated wellbeing support for staff and employers? Get in touch with our wellbeing support programme to see how your organisation can be well set up to look after employees through grief, illness and caring.
It's easy to find out how it could work for you and your workplace. Email us today!
Dying Matters at Work stories
Read these powerful and moving stories of people's varying experiences of caring and grief in the workplace.

Webinar: How to talk about death at work
On Thursday 11 May, Compassionate Employers hosted a webinar on 'How to talk about death at work' for Dying Matters Awareness Week.
The session featured Simon Blake, CEO Mental Health First Aid England, Aongola Victor Simuyemba, Bereavements Lead at Monzo and Faith Holloway, Compassionate Employers Programme Lead at Hospice UK and provided practical advice, tips and tricks on how to start workplace conversations on this often taboo subject.