In Depth:  death

Lydia Houghton

Producers of this year’s The Celebrity Traitors are seemingly obsessed with death.

Look, I get it, the rules of the game literally involve "murdering" players; the premise in itself is deathly to begin with. But is it just me, or have they really ramped up the deadly themes in this new series?

Andrew Drury

There is increasing interest as to what death doulas (who are also called end-of-life doulas, soul midwives, death coaches, dying guides, death midwives, and palliative care doulas) do. For example, there's this article on the BBC website; Nicole Kidman and Ruby Wax are reportedly undergoing training for this role, whilst Davina McCall has announced that she is planning to do so when she retires from her television activities.

Like birth doulas, who support mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood, death doulas support people at the end of life. They help the dying person and their family in the final months and may be present at death, assist with funeral arrangements, and sometimes simply offer company.

Dave Burke

Please note: This article references suicide.

Donna is a lively young support worker, and Andy was one of her clients. Intelligent, talented and looking forward to starting a career in the Royal Navy, Andy had become homeless and needed help to get back on his feet. They met for coffee, visited Andy’s bank and got some new accommodation sorted out.

Graeme Shanks

Approximately 150,000 people die each day worldwide. Death really is all around us, and yet every now and again there is a death that grips the world. That proved to be the case with former Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota who died recently in a sudden crash crash at the age of 28 along with his younger brother.

A talented footballer. A family man. An infectious personality. A role model. Here was a young man with his whole life ahead of him taken in his prime. Everything about his death was tragic. There was a moving tribute from Jota’s Portuguese teammate Christian Ronaldo who summed up the feelings of many when he simply posted on X, "It doesn’t make sense."

Robin Sydserff

Funeral services with no gospel and no hope are now the norm.

Having no service at all is now a popular option. Instead, people are encouraged to use the money saved for a celebratory memorial. It's an extremely successful idea, appealing to death-denying hearts.

Graeme Shanks

I have a friend who pastored in the North West coast of the United States for many years called Randall. He recently told me the story of an older man in his congregation who left a sum of money in his will to the church.

It was a sum that would equate to a low six figure amount in today’s economy. My friend was naturally ecstatic and deeply grateful for the man’s gospel heart.