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Today's Art of Dying Well podcast looks at the world of the funeral director - looking after families and final wishes in the immediate aftermath of the death of a loved one. Not an easy job. Paul Allcock is our main studio guest. Paul's family-run independent business offers funeral services for the people of Norwich and the surrounding areas. We talk about the advantages of planning ahead, children at funerals, the pressures of the job and being buried in your football kit!'Death Chatter' follows the theme and asks 'Funeral Directors - Who Cares?'.We finish with 'The View from the Chaplain's Chair'. Our guest is the excellent Rev Andrew Goodhead from St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, South East London. We talk about modern trends in terms of funerals, thanksgivings and memorials.

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An ageing population has a significant impact on care services, so for this month's 'Art of Dying Well' podcast, we're looking at how we care for elderly people nearing the end of life.To do this, we've brought in our guest reporter Nina Mattiello Azadeh. Nina visited The Charterhouse - a former Carthusian monastery in the heart of London, founded in 1611, that provides accommodation to a community of elderly residents known as 'Brothers'. Nina speaks to two Brothers and the Revd Robin Isherwood, Chaplain at The Charterhouse.For 'Death Chatter' we talk about less traditional final resting places and how returning to nature in an unmarked plot has become a real option for many.We wrap things up with 'The View from the Chaplain's Chair'. Sister Liz Farmer looks at the value of getting out the photo albums to unlock precious memories. She did just this as she nursed her father in his last months.

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Carolyne Barber's a very interesting lady. She has over 30 years of nursing experience caring for sick and dying people in many countries around the world. She's also a talented award-winning photographer who sees and captures all sorts of miracles of nature and uses her images to inspire those she cares for. In this podcast we also talk about sudden loss - particularly in light of the horrific Grenfell Tower fire and the tragic terror attacks in Manchester and London. Finally we conclude by asking Sister Kathleen Mary, assistant manager of St Anne’s Care Home for the Elderly in London, "Who cares for the carers?"

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There's a good reason we've called this initiative the 'Art of Dying Well'. There really is an art to living well and an art to dying well - and it's clear the two are intrinsically linked.This month we're delighted to have Louise Winter in the studio. Louise is a funeral professional and founder of Poetic Endings - a creative funeral provider. She's also editor of The Good Funeral Guide.Louise started work on the front line in the fashion industry but a 'quarter-life crisis' saw a switch of focus to helping grieving people to put together the best possible funeral for their loved one.We also talk about 'Life. Death. Whatever.' - a highly creative, though-provoking and interactive exibition looking at life, death and everything in-between. The stated aim of the exhibition is pretty close to ours here at the Art of Dying Well: "Working to re-design the dialogue about death and dying, to open it up and to find new approaches to this fundamental subject".Louise is so engaging that we over indulged ourselves and hence 'Death Chatter' takes a month off but we finish with a beautiful reflection on Christ's sacrifice and the road to Calvary in 'The View from the Chaplain's Chair'.With thanks to French and Mottershead - www.frenchmottershead.com - for the audio clip.www.artofdyingwell.org/podcasts

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Thanks for checking out our second Art of Dying Well podcast. As ever, the aim's to make dying something we don't have to walk through alone. This month we're talking about palliative care with the wonderful and hugely experienced Dr Kathryn Mannix who has worked in palliative and end of life care for over 30 years. April's 'Death Chatter' looks at a subject we covered in our March podcast - children dealing with grief - focusing particularly on two programmes. The first, a BBC documentary in which ex-England footballer Rio Ferdinand discusses losing his wife to cancer and the subsequent challenges bringing up three young children and, the other, a Telegraph podcast in which Prince Harry speaks about how he pushed feelings of grief away for 20 years after the death of his iconic mother Princess Diana. We finish with 'The View from the Chaplain's Chair' joining Fr George Bowen, a former hospital chaplain at the Royal Brompton and also the Royal Marsden.

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This is the first ever ‘Art of Dying Well’ podcast. What is it? Simply put it’s a monthly programme that aims to make death and dying something we can talk about openly without discomfort or fear. Dying well means different things to different people. Death is an individual experience, but a community of accompaniment on the journey can help us to prepare by bringing consolation and spiritual peace. In this podcast we cover child bereavement with Sue McDermott from the charity Rainbows GB, discuss the extraordinary on-air cancer diary of broadcaster Steve Hewlett and get the view from the Chaplain’s Chair from Bishop Paul Mason – the Catholic Church’s healthcare bishop.