A pioneering website is aiming to help people prepare for death and celebrate life in more meaningful ways. Aura was founded by motor neurone disease sufferer Paul Jameson in 2019, along with son David and family friend Ben.
Aura started primarily as a tech platform that allowed people to record life’s more important information, build and share funeral wishes, leave a multimedia life story and send time capsule messages in the future. Since launch, they’ve helped 90,000 people with their tools, guides and communities.
“I am a firm believer that the best way to ensure peace of mind at end of life is to prepare for it,” explains Paul. “I was determined to prepare properly, from a practical and emotional perspective, and to involve my family in the process, and it really surprised me that no obvious platform existed to help me do this.
“Dying is inevitable for all of us, but addressing it and talking about it remains one of the great taboos. All this means is that, too often, people’s end of life is far less well planned than it should be, and their memories, wishes, intentions and legacy can be lost forever.
“Our purpose is to allow people to engage with death from an emotional perspective, and to involve their families, friends and loved ones in this as well. It’s a collaborative platform that helps people, and those around them, all to celebrate their life and to create a permanent online legacy around that life story.”
Paul has always been passionate about having a positive, celebration of life ceremony at his house in Guildford in Surrey. This has been the motivation behind their latest endeavour that focuses on funeral planning. Their new service will major on planning memorial commemorations, events and services, and looking after families when a loved one is gone.
Paul concludes: “When I die (and it won’t be long!) I want a simple cremation with a ceremony at my family’s house afterwards. I’d like fireworks, dancing, music to celebrate my life the way I lived it. I’d like joy and laughter to accompany the tears.
“We believe Aura can help facilitate this in the future for others that have similar wishes – but pre-planning is so important for loved ones’ wishes to be realised. Unfortunately this still doesn’t happen enough.”
More at www.aura.life