A NORTH Lancashire church has been piloting a scheme to help parishes get people talking about death and dying.

Holy Trinity at Bolton-le-Sands is one of 30 churches in the county to host GraveTalk sessions in a relaxed environment.

The initiative was launched nationally at a giant GraveTalk café event in Portsmouth Cathedral on Tuesday. The resources include a pack of 52 questions about life, death, society, funerals, and grief. It has been piloted in more than 100 parishes nationally. The pack, and more information is available at www.gravetalk.org

The Rev Nancy Goodrich, vicar of Holy Trinity, said 13 people attended the GraveTalk event and added: “There was much laughter at shared stories of unusual keepsakes; dramatic escapes from death and humorous suggestions for eulogies and there were serious conversations about cremation versus burial; dying at home versus hospital; headstone on a grave versus ashes scattered somewhere beautiful."