As I write this, over 20,123 Death Cafes have been listed across 93 countries, with tens - if not hundreds - more happening each week. It’s thrilling to think about how many thousands of people have engaged in open, honest conversations about death and dying because of this movement.

With this incredible growth, however, comes the challenge of ensuring that the Death Cafe name is being used in line with our guidelines. Sometimes, honest mistakes happen such as using prompts or introducing themes, but we are also increasingly receiving reports of individuals using the Death Cafe name to promote businesses or services, which directly contravenes our principles.

We’ve had hosts go to great lengths to ensure neutrality, including covering up business signage at venues, so it's frustrating when some events stray from this and are instead used as marketing opportunities.

Death Cafe is run by volunteers who dedicate significant time and emotional energy to maintaining the integrity of this movement. Keeping Death Cafe true to its founding principles is something we take seriously. These guidelines were set out by my late brother Jon Underwood, in collaboration with our Mum, Susan Barsky Reid, to ensure that Death Cafe remains a safe and open space for all.

If you attend an event where a business or service is being promoted, please let us know: www.deathcafe.com/contact. As part of our ongoing review of the guidelines this year, we will work to make it even clearer what is and isn’t acceptable at Death Cafes.

Key guidelines on business promotion:

8.4 Please understand that Death Cafe is not an opportunity for you to promote your own business. You should never decide to offer a Death Cafe for this reason. Promoting a particular business contravenes our principle of not leading people to any conclusion, product, or course of action.

8.5 It is ok for you to mention your business in your Death Cafe biography. However, it isn’t appropriate for your business to be mentioned at the Death Cafe session. Reports that you’re promoting your business via Death Cafe will be investigated.

You can read the full guidelines in the link above.

To those of you who host Death Cafes in accordance with our guidelines, thank you. You are the reason this movement continues to flourish in the right way, offering people a space to explore death and dying without an agenda.

All the best,

Jools

Death Cafe Co-founder