'I run cafés where people talk about death - you realise it's not scary'

For Jenny Watt, decease is simply a cardinal portion of her life.

The 31-year-old spends 2 oregon 3 nights a week chatting to radical - whether acquainted faces oregon strangers she's met for the archetypal clip - astir everything connected with death, from moving done grief to the perfect opus for a funeral.

Jenny runs a fistful of death cafés crossed Glasgow - assemblage spaces that purpose to promote speech and treatment astir a taxable fewer radical similar to raise.

BBC Scotland News attended 1 of the play gatherings, which Jenny believes tin assistance interruption down taboos astir the subject.

But what makes a idiosyncratic privation to walk clip talking astir the extremity of life?

Jenny estimates astir fractional the attendees astatine her groups are determination to process grief successful immoderate way, whether for a caller nonaccomplishment oregon from 20 oregon 30 years ago.

"The aforesaid mode radical are called to nursing oregon religion, I've ever been funny successful death," she explains.

"It's going to hap to everybody. It mightiness beryllium unsocial for you and the relationships you are grieving but if you consciousness it conscionable by yourself it tin beryllium a lonely experience.

"When you commencement talking astir it you realise it's not truthful scary."

Jenny archetypal attended a decease café online during the coronavirus pandemic, and notes she wasn't looking to enactment done immoderate "traumatic bereavement" - she was simply funny successful the subject.

As face-to-face meetings resumed, she could not find immoderate section groups offering discussions astir grief astir Glasgow.

Taking the plunge, she acceptable up her ain gathering abstraction astir 2 and-a-half years agone successful the Battlefield country of Glasgow, panicking that no-one would crook up.

However radical did - sometimes conscionable occasionally, others much consistently - to person immoderate beverage and a portion of barroom portion discussing mortality and life.

On the nighttime BBC Scotland visited Jenny's café, the attendees were a premix of regulars and archetypal timers, drawn to the gathering for assorted reasons.

As good arsenic those processing grief, Jenny believes different 25% oregon truthful would beryllium radical diagnosed with a superior information oregon caring for someone. The remainder tends to beryllium radical simply funny successful the topic.

"Whatever radical privation to speech about, thing is disconnected limits," says Jenny.

"People laugh, they'll outcry and astatine the extremity I deliberation everyone learns something, whether that's reflecting connected their ain acquisition oregon abruptly realising they should get powerfulness of attorney."

That sentiment is shared by Nicola Smith, 1 of the much regular attendees astatine the Battlefield meetings.

She came on to 1 of the sessions the aforesaid time a adjacent person of hers had died, and "the tears flowed".

But letting her emotions determination retired is not the lone crushed that Nicola keeps attending.

"It's specified an intrinsic portion of our beingness and living, and yet we don't speech astir it," she told BBC Scotland.

"We don't cognize however to woody with it, due to the fact that we don't bash capable talking astir it. I mislaid a precise beloved comparative erstwhile my children were precise small, and it was the archetypal clip my girl had seen maine cry.

"She asked maine wherefore my look was wet, and it was the clip to explicate it was OK to outcry and this is what happens erstwhile you suffer idiosyncratic you love. It's not a weakness, it's not thing you hush up."

Nicola added she believed the taxable had go much taboo among modern generations owed to the maturation of hospice care since the 1960s, meaning a alteration successful radical dying astatine home.

Those trends could explicate the maturation successful decease cafés - the archetypal successful the UK was held successful 2011 successful London, and now determination are 3,794 crossed the UK.

In Scotland determination are dozens, from Ullapool to Kirkcudbright, but mostly clustered successful cities similar Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Discussion topics bounce astir astatine the meetings, from applicable proposal connected wills and powerfulness of lawyer to much affectional reflections connected idiosyncratic experiences.

They signifier portion of a wider speech connected nonaccomplishment and care, exemplified by May's Demystifying Death week that aims to assistance radical enactment each different during traumatic experiences.

Another visitant successful Jenny's group, John Mackay, wrote his PHD astir decease and the mourning process. He was attending his archetypal decease café successful Glasgow with the volition of discussing the taxable more.

"There's specified a taboo astir death, but you tin instrumentality a lighter look astatine it," helium says.

"The occupation is that radical don't speech astir it. If you spot funerals from different cultures it's precise large and precise expressive, but successful this state it's precise reserved.

"You person to marque definite you don't accidental the incorrect happening and that you deterioration the close apparel - it would beryllium bully to loosen it up arsenic well."

Others suggest the top payment of the café is much elemental - successful that it provides position connected life.

Spencer Mason antecedently attempted to extremity his life, but is presently coping with the end-of-life attraction of a idiosyncratic adjacent to him.

"I deliberation the much we sermon decease past surely the much appreciative you go of life," helium says.

"In circumstances wherever I've go adjacent to death, I've travel retired of them wanting beingness much than ever."