What’s happening?
The New West Hospice Society is holding a Festival of Loss and Healing on Saturday, May 5 from 1 to 5 p.m. at New Westminster City Hall. It will be held on the front lawn and inthe foyer of city hall. About 25 community organizations, including first responders, Century House, non-profit organizations and spiritual care folks, will be on hand to share the types of losses they deal with to create a better understanding among various groups and the public.
What is the festival about?
The festival seeks to educate the community about grief and loss using a variety of media and activities, such as displays, handouts, crafts and music. Along with food and entertainment, attendees will be able to make a craft involving rocks as a memorial to someone who has died.
What is the New West Hospice Society’s vision?
Founded in 2016, the society aims to build a community where death is no longer hidden or whispered about, where people know what to say and do, and where residents can die with dignity and family and friends can grieve well. Along with death, the vision is to include other everyday losses people experience.
What is a Compassionate City?
The society is using Dr. Allan Kellehear’s Compassionate City Charter to guide it in achieving an official Compassionate City designation for New Westminster. A Compassionate City model is one where the whole community adopts a compassionate approach to dying, death and loss. To do this, one of the society’s tasks is to host an annual peacetime memorial parade representing the major sectors of human loss outside military campaigns – cancer, motor neuron disease, AIDS, child loss, suicide survivors, animal companion loss, widowhood, industrial and vehicle accidents, the loss of emergency workers and all end-of-life care personnel, etc.
How did the idea of a festival arise?
“Instead of doing a memorial parade, we have adapted it to make it a festival and bring people together to talk about grief and loss, using a variety of media activities, crafts, music – and have citizens discover how similar we all are,” said Wendy Johnson, a member of New West Hospice Society’s board of directors. “It’s all about educating the community."
Why is it being held in May?
The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association has deemed May 6 to 12 to be National Hospice Palliative Care Week 2018.
More info, please:
Details about the New West Hospice Society can be found at www.newwesthospice.ca.
