by Mandy Stone
Manager, Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre

Recently I was invited to attend the second ever meeting of the Douglas Community Dying Matters Coalition. Dying Matters Coalition is an organisation started in England by the National Council for Palliative Care and aims to encourage people to talk about their own end of life issues with friends, family and loved ones in order to make “a good death’ possible.  

It now has many members outside of the UK and is growing rapidly with many positive outcomes for diverse communities.

This meeting of the group was called by Stephen Oldham, a nurse and also a director of Crimmins Funerals.  Stephen established this group because he recognised that, whilst a number of people in our community were working with community members facing death and bereavement issues and were doing great work, they had little contact with the others in the same field - that link was missing.

Stephen called together a wide range of committed and passionate health and community service workers to form the Dying Matters Coalition. The Dying Matters Coalition is about bridging that gap and providing a seamless service  for those community members who are facing death and bereavement issues.

Dying Matters Coalition members include Stephen Oldham, Fr Paul Beasley Anglican Church, Shaun Cram Mossman MPHS Nicki Terry-Bietz Mossman MPHS, Deborah Kachel Mossman High School,  Natalie Halse Mossman MPHS, Michele LaMond Cow Bay Clinic, Jennellda Harlow Mossman Bluecare,  Elizabeth O’Shea (Duckie), and myself representing the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre.

The group is excited about its membership as the whole of the Douglas Community is represented, having people who live in Wangetti to the south and Cow Bay to the North. This will ensure that the group will attempt to reach community members across our vast geographical area.

The group is also excited about the skills members bring to the group with a number of nurses, social workers, a priest and members who have experienced Bereavement personally. This group is not only after professionals but is seeking representation from community members.

The group is currently establishing its terms of reference and looks forward to receiving input from the community as to what assistance and services you require.

We are passionate and committed to strive towards providing a support, information and education, advocacy, and fundraising to support related projects and changing attitudes and behaviors towards dying, death and bereavement.