Name: Death Café
Location: Wellcome Collection

Join us for a quick cup of coffee and a pastry, afternoon tea, or a light meal with a glass of wine.

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Café

Gallery tour

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Daily Guided Tours and Discussions

Come and browse a selection of our quirky gifts and books.

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Shop

Enjoy delicious lunches, drinks and afternoon tea on level 2.

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Restaurant

Join your guide, Jordan, to explore the ‘Play Well’ exhibition with audio description, and discover more about the objects through smell and touch.

‘Play Well’ explores how play transforms both childhood and society, and on this tour Jordan will take a nostalgic journey through early childhood. From kindergarten to the toys you loved, recollect how we used to play.

Jordan Blake is a Visitor Experience Assistant at Wellcome Collection, and is trained in both speech-to-text and audio-described touring.

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Jordan Blake

Guide

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Access tour at Wellcome Collection

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This event will be audio described for visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Places are free but very limited. If you would like to come along, email access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

This event is audio described for visitors who are blind or partially sighted. For any assistance, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

Audio described

We’ll meet at the Information Point, which is on level 0, directly in front of you as you enter Wellcome Collection.

Information Point

Take a nostalgic journey through early childhood and explore the ‘Play Well’ exhibition with audio description, discovering more about the objects through smell and touch.

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Speech-to-text tour

We regularly run tours of our exhibitions for visitors with access needs: British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted, audio described (AD) and speech-to-text (STT) tours.

Access Tours and Discussions

AD Tour of Play Well

Hear from the researchers investigating how some people experience hallucinations following major heart surgery. Dr Martyn Stones will talk about the Cardiff Delirium Study and Jan Sharp will discuss the techniques used to digitally recreate the strange, dream-like scenes that people have reported hallucinating.  

A selection of the images will be available for you to view and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions.  

Dr Martyn Stones is a psychiatry trainee and PhD student at the Department of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University.

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Martyn Stones

Speaker

Jan Sharp is the Senior Medical Artist at the Department of Medical Illustration, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

Jan Sharp

<p>A chance to hear about and talk about ideas with others.</p>

Discussion

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Viewing Room event

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We’ll be in the Viewing Room. It’s next to the Library entrance on level 2, which you can reach by taking the lift or the stairs.

Viewing Room

Booking a ticket for a free event does not guarantee a place on the day. Doors usually open 15 minutes before an event starts and we advise arriving before the scheduled start time to claim a place. We hold some spaces for people with access requirements. If you have any access requests or requirements, email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

First come, first served

Hear from the researchers investigating and illustrating how some people experience hallucinations following major heart surgery.

Altered States in Intensive Care

Experience a day of performances, discussions, screenings and workshops related to ‘Misbehaving Bodies’ on the closing day of this exhibition. Throughout its duration, artists have been responding to the exhibition and here they will present their research and projects. These events are focused on themes of care, loss, mourning, death, illness and dying – each highly personal yet universal experiences that continually change, with no clear end or beginning.

Festival

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Misbehaving Bodies event Do you consider yourself healthy?

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This is a large-scale event with several different activities. Check specific sub-events for their locations.

Throughout the building

This is a large-scale event with several different activities, which may include drop-in sessions, scheduled performances, workshops or talks. Check specific activities for details and to see if you need to book a ticket or to just show up. Spaces for drop-in activities are first come, first served and may run out if we are busy. If you have any access requests or requirements, email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

Multi-part programme

Experience a day of performances, discussions, screenings and workshops related to ‘Misbehaving Bodies’ on the closing day of this exhibition.

No End and No Beginning

This talk will explore the relationship between playing and health through the paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s compelling accounts of the origins of creativity in a baby’s first experiences.

During his illustrious career Winnicott worked with an estimated 60,000 mother-infant couples. He was the creator of the squiggle game, a therapeutic exchange in which the doctor and child take it in turns to modify a squiggle drawing. Winnicott’s theories of child development have become established across the world. 

After the talk, you’ll have the opportunity to look at some key documents from the archives and ask questions.

Robert Ades is Assistant Editor of ‘The Collected Works of D W Winnicott’ and the Editor of its final volume. 

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Portrait of Robert Adès

Robert Ades

Seminar

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Spaces are first come, first served and may run out if we are busy so you may wish to arrive early. If you have any access requests or requirements, email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

Limited spaces available

Hear a talk about the relationship between playing and health, focusing on psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s accounts of the origins of creativity in a baby’s early life.

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Researcher talk in the Viewing Room

Hear about some of the latest projects that explore materials from our collections, ask questions and take inspiration for your own research.

Exploring Research

Playing at Creating Reality

Come and hear clinical psychologist Lucia Valmaggia talk about her work using virtual reality technology to address mental health issues, such as preventing psychosis and supporting victims of bullying. You’ll also get a chance to ask Lucia questions about her fascinating research.

Dr Lucia Valmaggia is a reader in Clinical Psychology and Digital Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. She leads the Virtual Reality Lab at NIHR/Wellcome Trust King’s Clinical Research Facility, and is an honorary consultant clinical psychologist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and a visiting professor at KU Leuven in Belgium.

Lucia Valmaggia

Lucia’s website

Researcher

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Packed Lunch discussion in the Forum

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We’ll be in the Forum. To get there, take the lift or stairs up to level 1 and then follow the signs through the ‘Being Human’ gallery.

The Forum

Hear clinical psychologist Lucia Valmaggia talk about her work using virtual reality technology to address mental health issues.

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Packed Lunch event in the Forum

At every Packed Lunch, you’ll get an opportunity to hear from a local scientist in conversation with a Wellcome facilitator about their current research. We then invite you to ask your own questions and share your thoughts. Sit back and listen or contribute – it’s up to you.

Packed Lunch

Virtual Realities

Join your guide Yasmeen for a tour of the Play Well exhibition. You’ll explore the themes of gender and society through some of the objects on display, such as the Barbie dolls, and you'll hear about theories of childhood and learning and how they relate to play. 

Your  guide will be using speech-to-text technology and there will be a drawing game during this tour.

Yasmeen is a is a Visitor Experience Assistant at Wellcome Collection, and is trained in speech-to-text touring.

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Wellcome Collection

Yasmeen Abdel Majeed

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A speech to text tour at Wellcome Collection

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This event will have live speech-to-text transcription for visitors who are D/deaf or hard of hearing. If you would like to come along, email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 020 7611 2222.

Speech-to-text

With a guide using speech-to-text technology, explore some of the themes in the Play Well exhibition in more depth.

STT Tour of Play Well

Schools

At this all-day session, your students will have the chance to explore a range of career pathways based on the many kinds of work we do at Wellcome. From scientists, researchers and innovators to curators and artists, there are many exciting choices for them to consider.

Students will hear inspiring stories from Wellcome employees. They will participate in skill-based learning tasks to help them think about the relevance of their current studies for work.

We have developed this study session for groups of students aged 14 to 19, studying GCSEs or post-16 qualifications at school or sixth-form college. You can bring 10 to 20 students, accompanied by staff at a ratio of 1:10.

Due to the small scale of our free programme, schools in the Greater London area have priority until 12 December. From this date booking is open to schools outside Greater London.

Noel has 25 years’ experience in mainstream and special education. Having worked extensively with children and young people with SEND while at the Museum of London, he now works freelance and specialises in developing and delivering SEND workshops for museums, galleries and heritage sites across the UK.

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Noel Hayden

Facilitator

Study day

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School study day

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We’ll be in the Studio on level 1. When you enter Wellcome Collection, head up the stairs or take the lift, then follow the signs.

The Studio

Your school or college can book a maximum of two study days per term. To secure your booking, you'll need to complete and return the required forms promptly.

All study days and events are free, but we charge a fee for cancellation or significant changes to your group size made within three weeks of your visit. Both policies are explained fully in the agreement we ask you to sign ahead of your visit.

School booking conditions

Explore the variety of career paths available to you if you work at a place like Wellcome.

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Medicine Now gallery

Active and engaging, to drive your students' creative and critical skills.

Study Days

World of Work

Dr Katherine Hubbard will discuss her research on Margaret Lowenfeld (1890–1973), a pioneering child psychotherapist and all-round unique woman. Find out more about the life and love(r)s of this fascinating figure. 

As part of her research, Dr Hubbard has been exploring the Lowenfeld archives at Wellcome Collection. After the talk, you’ll have the opportunity to look at some key documents from the archives and ask questions.

Dr Katherine Hubbard is a feminist academic at the University of Surrey. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on gender, sexuality and the history of psychology. Her current Wellcome Trust-funded project is entitled: ‘Dear Margaret: The interconnected lives and work of queer women in 20th-century British social science’.

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Katherine Hubbard

Dr Katherine Hubbard

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Find out about the life and love(r)s of pioneering 20th-century child psychotherapist Margaret Lowenfeld.

The Queer World of Margaret Lowenfeld

Join researchers Hannah Elizabeth and Suzanne Taylor to learn about the history of public health posters. The posters use a range of techniques to get people thinking about their health, from funny situations to dire warnings of doom. You’ll have the opportunity to share your thoughts about the posters, and then learn how to edit Wikimedia Commons to share your knowledge about the posters with others. 

Please bring your laptop or tablet to this session.

Dr Hannah J Elizabeth is a researcher for the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

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Hannah J Elizabeth

Host

Dr Suzanne Taylor is a Research Fellow in the Centre for History in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is a historian and social scientist working on the contemporary history of public health, specialising in drugs, alcohol and tobacco and food systems. 

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Suzanne Taylor

<p>A practical activity where you will create something or develop skills.</p>

Workshop

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Dr Hannah J Elizabeth

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Join researchers Hannah Elizabeth and Suzanne Taylor to learn about the history of public health posters, then use your laptop to share information with others online.

Humour and Peril in Public Health Posters

Come out to play at this weekend of games, conversations and workshops exploring who gets to play, who is represented in play, and why play is so important for us all. This event is inspired by the Play Well exhibition. 

All events will have step-free access and resting points will be available throughout the building.

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Permission to Play

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Come out to play at this weekend of games, conversations and workshops exploring who gets to play, who is represented in play, and why play is so important for us all.

Your students will spend a full day developing their anatomical knowledge and their understanding of the history of medicine. In the morning they’ll get to explore our objects, rare books and manuscripts, and develop a presentation to show off what they’ve learned. In the afternoon they’ll have an osteology workshop, where they’ll learn about historical lives by investigating real skeletons. 

We have developed this study session for groups of students aged 14 to 19, studying GCSEs or post-16 qualifications at school or sixth-form college. You can bring 20 to 30 students, accompanied by staff at a ratio of 1:10.

Jelena Bekvalac is Curator of Human Osteology at the Centre for Bioarchaeology at the Museum of London.

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Jelena Bekvalac

Your students will use museum objects and real skeletons to develop their knowledge of anatomy and of the history of medicine.

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