BBC Radio 4 LW

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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

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We Need to Talk About Death

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Joan Bakewell and her panel discuss death and dying.

Joan Bakewell and her panel discuss death and dying, exploring the choices open to us and confronting the questions we fear the most.

We Need to Talk About Death podcast

We Need to Talk About Death: Series 3: I Can't Afford to Die

I Can't Afford to Die

Series 3

BBC Radio 4 - We Need to Talk About Death, Series 3, I Can't Afford to Die

Joan Bakewell explores the options available when you can’t afford a funeral.

Joan Bakewell explores how you can achieve a decent send-off for a friend or relative, and even yourself, if you can’t afford the soaring cost of funerals.

The average cost of a funeral has doubled in the past twelve years.  As people struggle to meet the soaring cost, Joan Bakewell explores how to achieve a decent send-off for a friend or relative, and even yourself, if you don’t have the money.

Low-cost funerals are now in demand and, as Joan discovers, there are many ways of keeping the cost down.  She and her panel discuss the different elements of a funeral to reveal where the money goes, and how you can make savings.  Many people today are choosing to do away with the ‘frills’, such as the hearse, limousines and pall bearers, and focussing on the essentials - the coffin, cremation or burial, and the service. 

While some can afford a low-cost funeral, an increasing number cannot.  The state-funded public health funerals, or ‘paupers funerals’ as they were once called, are on the rise.  But securing one from your local authority isn’t always easy.  Joan asks why these funerals can be so hard to access, when someone is in genuine need, and where to seek help.

Producer: Beth Eastwood

We Need to Talk About Death: Series 3

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Joan Bakewell chairs a panel of experts to talk about what happens in Britain when we die

Joan Bakewell chairs a panel of experts to talk openly about what happens in Britain when we die.

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We Need to Talk About Death

Series 3

I Can't Afford to Die

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