Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Coffin proves a boundary too far for Death Awareness Week in Elgin

Karen Collins, Kate Clark, and Jane Duncan Rogers with the willow coffin that was on display in the St Giles Centre, Elgin as part of their Dying Awareness campaign.
Karen Collins, Kate Clark, and Jane Duncan Rogers with the willow coffin that was on display in the St Giles Centre, Elgin as part of their Dying Awareness campaign.

A row broke out in a Moray shopping centre yesterday after a coffin was displayed in a window.

Jane Duncan Rogers and Kate Clark had organised an event at then St Giles Centre in Elgin to raise awareness about thdeath.

The pair had lined up three days of talks, and were offering information about planning for the end of life.

But within a day of a willow coffin being put in a shop window, the event was cancelled after other businesses complained.

Ms Duncan Rogers, who had wanted to break one of life’s final taboos, said: “We put it in the window because we thought it would be attractive for people to look at. It’s a beautiful work of work of art.

“In retrospect we could have been a little bit more sensitive, not everybody thinks like us. That’s why we were doing it in the first place though.”

Talks were being run as part of the event to encourage people to talk about death and prepare.

Other venues in the centre were offered to the group by management, but a compromise could not be reached.

One St Giles Centre shop manager said: “If they had put it at the back of the shop it would have been fine.

“For people who have recently lost a member of the family, feelings can still be very raw and it can cause upset.

“People don’t want to be sitting having a cup of coffee and looking at a coffin. It could have been more tactful.”

Another shop manger described the display as “inappropriate” for the shopping centre.

It is understood a willow basket mistaken for an infant-sized coffin also caused upset. Alternatives are now being investigated to hold the event in a different format in the future.

Kate Clark, from Roseisle, who works as a nurse with people who are dying said the display was not designed to provoke a reaction.

She said: “We’re not a bunch of people trying to do something weird. Death Awareness Week is recognised nationally. When we’ve held events before people were cautious but found it helpful.”

Elgin City North councillor Patsy Gowans said: “In France you can pick up a coffin at a city market. Maybe it’s about how we look at death.”

The St Giles Centre was approached to comment but nobody was available.