Passing Perspectives Podcast Series
By Donna Phillips-Sibanda
Seed-funded by the Health, Care and Wellbeing Research and Innovation Group (USW) the aim of the commission is to find ways to talk about death and dying that are meaningful and that focus on the end-of-life support needs of racialised groups in Wales in particular. Donna Marie Phillips-Sibanda worked as a community outreach worker based in Cardiff for many years before recently joining the independent funeral sector. She works at Ivor Thomas Funerals, and as noted on their website, “Donna’s enthusiasm and outside-the-box thinking is something that we put to good use. Our social media guru is also a fantastic bearer and is always willing to help”. Donna is passionate about the importance of preparing for the end of life and reducing the stigma so often associated with death and dying. Donna is a seasoned podcaster and will be leading this work. As she explains in her podcasts, “I want to create a space to talk about death and dying and share rituals and practices that are important to people”. The podcasts were captured over a six-month period in 2024/2025 with men and women of Black Welsh, African and Caribbean descent living in cities in SE Wales. Each episode offers a chance to change how death and dying are understood and discussed. Join us as we honour death and dying in ways that bring insight, foster compassionate communities, and, hopefully, provide pathways for support.
Acknowledgements: Gratitude and thanks to all who took part.
01
Gloria's experiences of working with those at end of life in Wales and insight into transcultural understandings of death and dying.
02
03
A conversation with a Funeral Director, Mark Thomas on funeral care, sense of time and the importance of being prepared.
04
05
A conversation with Jane Depledge, Death Doula and founder of Soul Companions
About the 2024/5 Commissions
Delve into a series of commissioned podcasts that were produced from a small grant provided by the Health, Care and Wellbeing Research and Innovation Group, University of South Wales. This engagement and outreach work allows for gentle conversations that offer insight into end-of-life matters from varying perspectives. This is not research, for sure. Instead, this is the embryonic matter in which meaningful and dialogical engagement is rooted and, from much of subsequent collaborative research, begins to find root. As commissions, this is not at all my work. I am grateful to the artist who explored this area for the first time, and to the three women - all of whom are part of the end-of-life eco-system - who accepted their commission and have worked to pull together their series and allowed me to showcase it here.
Transitions: A Photographic Exploration. By Simon Campbell
Passing Perspective Podcast Series. By Donna Phillips-Sibanda
Whisperings - a podcast series with death doulas and those who work with them. By Jane Delredge
Holding space for Black women and their end-of-life work podcast series. By Debi XXX