As Death Cafe has grown, staying true to our guidelines has become more of a challenge, but it’s because of people like you that we continue to uphold Jon’s original vision. Our events remain group-guided discussions over tea and cake, without leading participants toward any particular conclusion or course of action. A huge thank you to everyone who helps keep the integrity of Death Cafe alive, whether by flagging events that don’t follow our guidelines or simply by ensuring your own gatherings reflect our core principles. You can read more about our guidelines here: www.deathcafe.com/how

This past year has been an exciting one for Death Cafe. We successfully reinstated our trademark—something I hadn’t expected to be navigating, but with the overwhelming financial and emotional support from the community, we raised the funds in just a matter of days! After months of paperwork, technical hurdles, and some very steep learning curves, I’m happy to share that it’s now in place.

Another big step: we’ve been working on editing the translations of our guidelines into other languages, and these are close to being posted.

We’ve also dipped our toes into merchandise, something Jon and I discussed but never managed to launch. For the first time ever, we now have official Death Cafe merch—starting small with a sticker, available exclusively to Patrons who sign up on the $5 tier. More items are in the works, and you can learn more about our Patreon here: www.patreon.com/deathcafe

Perhaps most importantly, we’re looking at refining the guidelines to ensure we’re addressing the most common questions from hosts and participants. Sadly, there are still events misusing the name ‘Death Cafe’—some unknowingly, with small missteps like charging participants a specific amount to attend or using prompts, and others, unfortunately, using the name to sell products or services. We want to make sure our guidelines are as clear and comprehensive as possible, so we’ll be working with the community to update them. If you have any feedback or suggestions on areas that could benefit from clarification, we’d love to hear from you. You can reach us via the contact form on our website: www.deathcafe.com/contact

Lastly, our wonderful friends at Flexible Films have produced another beautiful piece in their Soul Film series. This special edition features Jon’s Buddhist teacher and friend, Geshe Tashi Tsering, and offers new perspectives on Jon’s life and work. I invite you to watch it here.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our amazing community. To all the Death Cafe hosts who’ve been upholding the guidelines, some of you for over a decade—you are the heart of this movement. To my Mum, Susan Barsky Reid, who moderates every single Death Cafe and website post, and to Megan Mooney, who’s managed our Facebook page and enquiries since before Jon died—thank you. And to everyone else who contributes in ways big and small, we are so very grateful.

Thank you all for being part of this journey.

Jools x