A charity that organises grief dinner parties

The Dinner Party is a non-profit organisation that has built a worldwide community of ‘dinner partiers' who have all experienced the loss of a close family member or friend. When you lose someone significant, you unintentionally join the club that no one wants to join, and so The Dinner Party aims to transform this isolating experience into one of community support and conversation- very aligned to our mission! Whilst this is a US-based organisation that focuses on supporting those in the United States and Canada, anyone around the world is welcome to join a virtual table or connect to a buddy. 

The Dinner Party gives those who have been bereaved the safe space needed to talk about their grief with others who can relate, without the worries of pity or judgement, at the comforting and familiar setting of a dinner table. As COVID-19 meant that in-person dinner parties were no longer possible, the organisation began using video calls to host their parties instead. 

Virtual Tables are hosted by peers who have taken part in training to learn the skills needed to start, sustain, and navigate the conversations that can arise when dealing with grief and creating a welcoming community. Participants can attend the dinner party of their choice based on a list of hosts and the themes that they hope to explore at their table, to help them decide which party would be best suited to them. 

The Dinner Party also offers a Buddy System where ‘grief peers’ are partnered together to combat the emotional and physical feeling of isolation after loss. Whilst the pandemic has exacerbated isolation, this peer-to-peer connection based on shared experience can help to build meaningful relationships and can allow the bereaved to feel seen and valid in their experiences.

This is a community that believes in ‘thriving, not just surviving’ after loss, through honest conversation, and good food too!