Being Ready: trans and gender diverse experiences of dying, death and bereavement
Project Lead: Ash Hayhurst
Email: being.ready@gires.org.uk
The ‘Being Ready’ project was set up to address the needs of trans and gender diverse people during all stages of dying, death and bereavement. We are creating evidence-based training for professionals who work with the dead, dying or bereaved so they are ready to meet everyone’s needs, and be more trans and gender diverse inclusive.
The Being Ready Project’s evidence-based training for professionals has now been delivered across England
This unique training was developed to help professionals address the needs of trans and gender diverse people during all stages of death, dying and bereavement.
We’ve built an interactive training programme around the experiences of trans and gender diverse people, and have been guided by what death dying and bereavement professionals told us they wanted to learn more about.
We’re excited to announce that Angie McLachlan has built two bespoke Ichabodies – death dummies™ to demonstrate compassionate, appropriate care for trans and gender diverse people who have died. Using their stories we will illustrate the challenges and barriers they face, and what good care looks like.
The 1 day training covered:
- Introduction to trans and gender diversity
- Admin- data collection, the law and good practice
- End-of-Life and Palliative care experiences
- Death registration, including coroner involvement
- Care of the body of a person who has died
- Funerals and memorials
- Bereavement care
- Navigating conflict
- Signposting to appropriate services
- Safeguarding
- Inclusive policy
About the trainers
Ash Hayhurst (he/him) is a GIRES trainer and funeral professional. He has been the Being Ready Project Lead since 2021 and is the author of the Queer Funeral Guide, published in 2019. Ash has experience in teaching, residential care work, funeral arranging and mortuary assistance. He has been a guest at a number of conferences speaking about his work.
Angie McLachlan (they/them) has over 30 years of experience in death care, is a care of the body tutor and retired embalmer. Angie also created The Ichabodies – death dummies™ and has built two bespoke models for the Being Ready training. They have undertaken most of the practical tasks relating to funerals, including being a premises inspector for a Funeral Trade Organisation. Angie is a member of the British Institute of Embalmers and the Dying Matters Coalition.
We welcome anyone who works in any capacity in death, dying or bereavement care. This training may be of particular interest to people who work in the following areas:
- Bereavement care
- Chaplaincy
- Coroners’ courts
- Funerals
- LGBTQIA+ support and advocacy
- Mortuary work
- Older people’s advice and support
- Palliative/end-of-life care
- Patient advice and liaison services
- Register Offices
Feedback from the training:
“The training was fantastic, informative and delivered in a very professional manner”
“This training would be so valuable to be delivered to pre registration nursing and allied health professional students, so it becomes part of every day practice”
If your organisation would be interested in hosting a training session from September 2024 onwards please contact us at: web@gires.org.uk