Co-organized by Plenna and Gail Rubin

A diverse group of death educators, funeral directors, academics, and end-of-life planners convened at ‘Exit Here’ Chelsea funeral home in London on 24 July 2026 to exchange practices and explore innovations. The unifying theme that emerged was how to communicate better about death — across public engagement, legislation, digital tools, and community building. Participants identified a persistent gap between strong positive feedback on death-related initiatives and consistently weak public uptake, and discussed strategies to bridge that gap.

Main Takeaways

• Communication as the core challenge: All participants converged on the view that death literacy and open two-way conversation — not any single tool or service — is the primary lever for change. We always need to listen, and bear in mind that around the topic people will prefer/quickly want to speak with a human rather than interact with AI or browse through information.
• Society could benefit from returning to rituals – funerals being a central point of discussion.
• Natural burial was identified as a potential major growth area in the UK, with lack of urban access and markers cited as key resistance points. 
• Direct cremation (DC) was critiqued as often bypassing meaningful ritual; Exit Here’s model of pairing ceremony (celebrations, receptions, unique settings) with direct cremation offered  a constructive industry response.
• Death education on the UK national curriculum starting in September 2026 was acknowledged as a significant milestone, though implementation is expected to be light-touch initially. However, the multiple jurisdictions within the UK can pose  complexities and differences in all areas.
• AI poses an existential challenge to static end-of-life planning websites (e.g. Plenna); the group discussed pivoting toward AI-enabled personal planning journeys or employer-focused services.
• Don’t need to “reinvent the wheel”, rather “connect the cogs” – the death industry is developed but siloed; there are more opportunities for exchanges like the Gathering could help people share experiences.

• Linking across the generations – older people tend to be more interested in death planning but younger people are more technically savvy to help with online promotion of related content.

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Pictured below (L to R): David Sunderland, founder of Plenna; Oliver Peyton, OBE, founder of Exit Here; Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and “The Doyenne of Death®“; Laura Barnett, General Manager of Passages International in the UK; Tom Shakespeare, social scientist and author; Jenny Kitzinger, creator of the Before I Die Festival; and Isabel Russo, Executive Director of the Good Funeral Guide.