Find out what Lincoln shoppers put at the top of their bucket list

Lincoln shoppers have shared their deepest goals and ambitions in life, supporting Dying Matters Awareness Week.

The annual bucket list concept, featuring a ‘Before I die…’ wall and coffin, commenced on Monday, May 8 and will run until Friday, May 12.

In support of the campaign, end of life care charity St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice have set up challenges and activities in Waterside shopping centre.

Dying Matters Awareness Week runs until May 14.

The bucket list concept aims to make the difficult subject of death easier to talk about. People are encouraged to write down their goals in life and what they aim to achieve before they die.

Volunteers and staff from St Barnabas are with the campaign in Waterside from 9:00am to 5:30pm every day. They are answering any questions and welcoming members of the public.

Along with the 6ft by 12ft bucket list boards, the campaign also has a cardboard coffin which was donated by the Co-op. People are encouraged to write poems, quotes or words that mean something to them on it.

An interactive installation of an elephant has also been created, addressing how death is similar to the phrase ‘the elephant in the room’. St Barnabas are encouraging people to tie ribbons on the installation and make it look pretty, showing that death cannot be ignored.

The elephant in the room.

Cat Maddy, Marketing and Communication manager for St Barnabas said: “I think it’s a really great idea to get people talking more honestly and more openly about dying.

“The response has been really positive. People are really interested in what other people are writing. Some of them are really honest, it goes to show you don’t really know what people are going through or thinking each day.”

Cat she said that before she die’s she want to: “Make sure my family is happy.”

Other members of the public had wrote ‘Share the love’, ‘Make sure my children are happy’, ‘Make my dreams come true’ and ‘Meet Gary Barlow’.

The boards have been taken very positively by local shoppers. Nicola Chanamuto, a Lincoln resident said: “I think it’s really interesting to read what is most important to people in life and to learn about what other people’s priorities are.

“It’s really important for people to be focused on what they want to do in life. I think I would make many more goals than just one of them.”