A social group where residents meet up to talk about death was launched in Amersham this week.

The group had their first meeting on Wednesday from 10am to 11.30am at Café Africa on Chesham Road.

‘The Death Café’, which started in Hackney in 2010 before spreading across Europe to America, aims to “increase awareness of death to help people make the most of their lives”.

Anna Maria Aprile, a holistic therapist and registered counsellor who has practices in Chesham and Hazlemere, brought The Death Cafe to south Bucks.

She said: “‘The Death Cafe’ is not a bereavement group, a workshop or a counselling session. It’s an accessible, respectful and confidential space to talk about death.

“I hope that by providing a safe place where people can talk about death, I can help to embrace our fears and anxieties and to bring a little more lightness in our life.

“This week we had a small group of eight people, but they were all of different ages and backgrounds.

“People were joking and laughing but, because of the subject, the session was quite intense. They shared not just the stories, but what was behind the stories.

“They said their thoughts how we could live in the moment. It helps to lessen the fear of death.”

The next meeting of the Chiltern Death Café is on Wednesday November 18 from 10am to 11.30am at Café Africa, Amersham.

For information or to sign up contact Anna Maria at info@journeytoself.co.uk.