Patients, visitors and staff at Ipswich Hospital have been sharing their dreams by listing the things they’d like to do before they die as part of a special initiative designed to encourage people to talk more openly about death.

Workers in the palliative care team collected the aspirations by inviting people to complete the sentence: “before I die, I would like to….” on a whiteboard. Responses included everything from watching grandchildren grow up and qualifying as a radiographer to laughing more, scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and even touching a cobra.

The initiative was organised to tie in with national Dying Matters Awareness Week, which this year was themed around ‘The Big Conversation’ and ran from May 9 to 15.

Sally Thorpe, palliative care nurse specialist at the hospital, said: “We organised this project to break down some of the taboos which still exist around death while encouraging people to talk more openly about dying and their care wishes at the end of their lives.

“We were really pleased with the response we received.

“Lots of people took the time to think about what is important to them and fill in the board, while others stopped for a chat or to pick up a leaflet about palliative care and the importance of planning ahead.

“We hope that the initiative has made it easier for people to start talking to their loved ones about their wishes.”

Ms Thorpe also thanked St Elizabeth Hospice for donating the ‘before I die’ board so that people could get involved in this important debate.

Have you got a bucket list? Email your aspirations to gemma.mitchell@archant.co.uk or leave comments below.