It’s been less than two years since Kate Tym and Kate Dyer set up Coffin Club in Hastings and an invite to meet the Queen received this week is the latest significant achievement on their road to breaking the taboo that surrounds talking about death.

The invite to Windsor Castle in April is to help celebrate the Centenary of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Coffin Club is a charity that focuses on helping people understand the options they have around planning their funeral and the Kates were delighted when Miriam Margolyes became the charity’s patron last year.

“Coffin Club has grown quickly,” says Kate Tym who is delighted to see affiliated clubs beginning to be set-up around the country. Both women are delighted that the success of their fledgling charity is being recognised in such a significant way with the Royal invitation.

“It’s recognition of the work we have done to alleviate funeral poverty and to empower people to plan and cost, their perfect send off,” says Kate Dyer.

Before launching Coffin Club the two Kates worked as independent funeral celebrants and they have been surprised and delighted by the way Coffin Club has developed in such a short time: “Coffin Club really has gone from strength to strength,” says Kate D, “we’ve garnered so much positive attention that we’ve started running training courses to teach other people how to set-up and run their own Coffin Clubs around the country.”

“Coffin Club is essentially an educational charity,” says Kate T, “People are notoriously under-informed about their choices when it comes to their funeral. This is because, as a nation, we really do tend to shy away from talking about death and Coffin Club addresses that.”

The Kates say the are ‘completely evangelical’ about changing the face of funerals in the UK and they are looking forward to Coffin Club featuring in Miriam Margolyes up-coming documentary A Dead Good Adventure, which is due to air over Easter on BBC2.

If you’d like to take part in Coffin Club please get in touch with Kate and Kate at www.coffinclub.org or email at coffinclubuk@gmail.com or phone Kate Tym 07985295373 or Kate Dyer 07790128592