Death Cafe London
From October - December 2015 we ran a community share offer to set up a 'real' Death Cafe in central London.
Our vision was to offer not-for-profit, community run coffee and events venue specifically to facilitate engagement with death.
These are the business plan and share offer documents we put together. Our fundraising video is here.
In total we raised £39,574 from 182 investors. Unfortunately this is not enough to proceed with the project at this juncture.
We still believe that Death Cafe London was viable and desirable and so will continue to look for ways to move the project forward in the future.
Below is the project archive. If you'd like more information please get in touch.
New Blog post: Death Cafe London final update
Posted by Jon Underwood on Dec. 21, 2015, 1:07 p.m.
Dear Death Cafe London Supporter,
As you may know, our share offer closed on Saturday and I wanted to update you as to where we stand.
In total we raised £39,574 from 182 investors, amounting to the sale of 791 shares. Though substantial this is only 15% of our estimated cost of opening. As we didn't reach our target none of the money committed has been taken.
Despite not reaching our target the ...
New Blog post: Archive of Death Cafe London Crowdfunder page
Posted by Jon Underwood on Dec. 19, 2015, 2:32 p.m. 1 comment
“Death cafes have already had a tremendous impact, which is why we are very excited about plans to open a Death Cafe in London.”
Claire Henry, Chief Executive of the National Council for Palliative Care and the Dying Matters Coalition
“There should be spaces like this in every major city. I can't wait to visit when you open.”
Caitlin Doughty, founder of the Order of the Good Death
“I cannot imagine a more timely ...
Press: Creating a place to talk about death: Death Cafe London
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 21, 2015, 10:30 p.m.
"Lizzy Miles and Jon Underwood reflect on the growth of the Death Cafe movement over the past four years and the current crowdfunding share offer to establish a physical café space in London, known as Death Cafe London."
http://www.pallimed.org/2015/11/creating-place-to-talk-about-death.html
New Blog post: Death Cafe London - mid point update
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 19, 2015, 6:44 p.m.
Today is the half way period in our community share offer to open a ‘real’ Death Cafe in London. So far 140 investors have bought 670 shares at £50 each, raising over £33,500.
This is amazing and we’re sincerely grateful to everyone who has invested or supported the project. But, as our business plan sets out, we would realistically need 10 times this to proceed. Even with a further 30 days to run ...
Press: Talking to the Man Trying to Open a Permanent Death Café in London
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 15, 2015, 9:47 p.m.
Thanks to Kelsey Osgood for writing this great piece
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/talking-to-the-man-trying-to-open-a-permanent-death-caf-in-london-229
Press: A crowdfunding investment idea to die for
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 15, 2015, 9:36 p.m.
Published in The Times on Tuesday November 3rd
See more at: The Times
New Blog post: First campaign update 2 weeks in
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 2, 2015, 6:28 p.m. 1 comment
Dear everyone,
Heartfelt thanks to all who have offered support during this first 2 weeks of this campaign to open a Death Cafe in London. We are really pleased with the positive feedback our proposal has received. It has certainly got people thinking!
There has been a significant amount of engagement with Death Cafe London so far. This includes the press coverage listed below, with more due over the next weeks. The articles are getting ...
Press: Tea, Cake And Sympathy: Campaign For Death Cafe
Posted by Jon Underwood on Oct. 18, 2015, 7:02 p.m.
See more at: Sky News
Press: Death Café: coffee shop where you can discuss mortality over a latte to open in London
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 28, 2015, 2:26 p.m.
This article has a poll asking "Would you visit a Death Cafe?" At the time of writing, out of over 200 votest 80% (161) have said "Yes, I think it would be enlightening" against 20% who have said "No life's depressing enough".
See more at: The Telegraph
Press: Death Cafe set to open in London to ‘help people engage with dying’
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 28, 2015, 2:20 p.m.
See more at: The Independent
Press: Death Café London: A coffee shop where people can chat about dying is set for the capital
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 28, 2015, 2:19 p.m. 1 comment
Photo credit: Peta Murray
See more at: London Evening Standard
New Blog post: A ‘Real’ Death Cafe in London? Five ways you can help bring it to life
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 25, 2015, 5:12 p.m. 4 comments
You heard it here first. Plans are now underway to set up a real Death Café in central London - an inclusive café and events venue for people to explore all matters related to death and dying. You can read more about it here.
Our campaign has already got people talking; yesterday it was featured in the Independent and London Evening Standard and there’s more to come.
At this stage the real Death Café is ...
New Blog post: Death Cafe London - share offer to go live in October 2015
Posted by Jon Underwood on June 24, 2015, 11:23 a.m. 9 comments
Tl;dr: The project, to open a 'real' Death Cafe in London, is going great! To raise funds we’ll be offering community shares from October 2015. Please support us with encouragement and pledges or contact us to get involved.
There is good progress to report with the plan to open a ‘real’ Death Cafe in London :)
If you have not heard about this before, we’re working to open a coffee and events venue ...
New Blog post: Death Cafe London – Latest developments / Inclusion policy
Posted by Jon Underwood on April 15, 2015, 4:22 p.m. 4 comments
Introduction
Hi,
At the start of 2015 we had a poll about whether to try to set up a 'real' Death Cafe in London. This would be a coffee and events venue established specifically to facilitate engagement with death. In the end 126 people (91%) voted 'Yes we should try to set this up' and 13 people voted 'No we shouldn't.'
Buoyed by this I have been busy taking Death Cafe London forward. It ...
New Blog post: Death Cafe London – we're moving forward
Posted by Jon Underwood on Feb. 2, 2015, 2:54 p.m. 2 comments
Our vote on whether to try to set up a 'real' Death Cafe in London has now closed. In total we had 139 votes. Of these:
- 126 (91%) voted 'Yes we should try to set up a real Death Cafe in London'
- 13 (9%) voted 'No we shouldn't try to set up a real Death Cafe in London'
When voting started I really didn't know which way it would go at all. But ...
New Blog post: Vote - should we try to set up a 'real' Death Cafe in London or not?
Posted by Jon Underwood on Jan. 27, 2015, 1:39 p.m. 7 comments
Some notes:
· What is being asked here is whether setting up a ‘real’ Death Cafe is a good idea in principle. If a majority vote yes a business plan will be produced and with it a community share offer to raise the money. At this point the financial viability of the ‘real’ Death Cafe will be looked at in detail.
· What a real Death Cafe consists ...
New Blog post: Death Cafe London – your thoughts requested
Posted by Jon Underwood on Jan. 8, 2015, 2:49 p.m. 16 comments
Summary
This year I’ve been developing plans to set up a real Death Cafe in London. The work so far has convinced me that this venture is both viable and desirable. Death Cafe London is a community venture however, and won’t work without widespread support. When I met him recently, Bernard Crettaz urged caution. We need to make some crucial decisions about whether to proceed or not and so this is a request ...
New Blog post: Meeting Bernard Crettaz
Posted by Jon Underwood on Nov. 11, 2014, 10:19 p.m. 6 comments
It is now over a week since I went to Switzerland to meet Bernard Crettaz. It was a brief but magical trip and definitely one of the highlights of my life. Bernard Crettaz is the founder of Cafe Mortels and his work inspired Death Café. Without him it wouldn’t exist in the way it does. I went to Switzerland to interview him and also attend what was advertised as being his last Cafe Mortel ...
New Blog post: *Updated: Bernard Crettaz - last Cafe Mortel 31st October, Lausanne Switzerland
Posted by Jon Underwood on Oct. 9, 2014, 3:53 p.m. 5 comments
As you may know, we are making a film about Death Cafe as part ...
New Blog post: Film for Death Cafe London - your help needed!
Posted by Jon Underwood on Oct. 2, 2014, 9:52 a.m. 4 comments
Hi everyone :)
As part of the work to develop Death Café London I have commissioned a film to be made about this project and Death Café more widely. This is being made by Mdhamiri at Cinovice.
As Death Café is a community enterprise I am very keen that a wide variety of voices are heard in this film. As such I would like to invite you to film yourself and send us the results.
If ...
New Blog post: Announcing plans to open a ‘real’ Death Café in London
Posted by Jon Underwood on Sept. 25, 2014, 10:41 p.m. 28 comments
Super brief summary:
We’re looking to establish a ‘real’ Death Café in London - a physical Death Café that sits at the heart of what is now a worldwide movement. This will be called Death Café London and will be owned and run by the community that funds its set up. If it takes off it could be the first of several. Stay tuned for a share prospectus and more information in the near future ...
New Blog post: Death Cafe end of 2013 round up - and plans for 2014!
Posted by Jon Underwood on Jan. 3, 2014, 1:09 a.m. 29 comments
It’s been a fantastic year for Death Café.
Together we’ve worked to hold hundreds of Death Cafes where people have come together in comfort to talk openly about death. There have now been 450 Death Cafes listed on our website, and many more that haven’t. Literally across the world we have got people talking about death.
This year we’ve re-written the guide to running your own Death Café, enabling more and ...