Remember a loved one this Christmas with Light Up a Life
Hospiscare Light Up a Life services take place throughout Exeter, Mid and East Devon in November and December, offering family and friends the opportunity to come together and remember those who are no longer with us. Christmas can be an emotional time for those missing loved ones and these remembrance services are another way in which Hospiscare supports local families.
Each uplifting service includes carols, poems and candles, with the final service being held in the beautiful Exeter Cathedral on Sunday 16 December at 6.30pm. Just outside the Cathedral is the Hospiscare Christmas tree, swathed in lights that are lit at dusk every evening until Twelfth Night.
Hospiscare supporters are being invited to honour their loved ones by making a dedication, which is then inscribed in the Hospiscare Book of Memories that appears at each service. Alternatively, an online memory star can be shared online, also allowing friends and family to remember someone special. Hospiscare asks people to visit www.hospiscare.co.uk/light-up-a-life to find out more about ways in which they can remember a loved one.
Each year, Hospiscare provides free, specialist care and support for more than 2,500 adults with life-limiting illnesses and their families in Exeter, Mid and East Devon. One family who has experienced such support are the Bowens.
Anna Bowen, whose husband Geoff died following a brain tumour diagnosis at the end of 2017, and her children, Martha and Jessie, found Hospiscare does all it can to offer kindness and support when family life is so drastically changed.
Anna says: “No one ever hopes to find themselves in the position that we as a family did when Geoff was diagnosed with a brain tumour, but we will be forever grateful to all the amazing staff at Hospiscare for allowing the four of us to live, eat, sleep and just be together in those last few precious days and nights.
“Geoff received exceptional and sensitive care to the very end, and we were given space and privacy in the lovely calm family room. We can never thank Hospiscare enough.”
Sarah Smith, In Memory Manager at Hospiscare, says: “Our Light Up a Life services are a beautiful way to remember someone special as Christmas approaches, and everyone is welcome. Hospiscare is very much part of the community and these services are a chance for those communities to gather and support one another, they offer not only the opportunity to reflect but also to celebrate the life of a loved one.”
Upcoming Light Up a Life services:
- Topsham, St Margaret’s Church – Sunday 2 December, 3.00pm
- Okehampton, Fairplace Church – Tuesday 4 December, 7.00pm
- Exmouth, Holy Trinity Church – Wednesday 5 December, 6.00pm
- Crediton, Parish Church – Thursday 6 December, 7.00pm
- Tiverton, St Peter’s Church – Friday 7 December, 7.00pm
- Exeter, St Thomas Methodist Church – Monday 10 December, 6:30pm
- Exeter, Broadclyst & Pinhoe, Hall Church – Wednesday 12 December, 7.00pm
- Ottery St Mary, St Mary’s Parish Church – Wednesday 12 December, 7.00pm
- Axminster, St Mary the Virgin Church – Monday 3 December, 7:30pm
- Seaton, St Gregory’s Church – Friday 14 December, 6:00pm
- Exeter Cathedral – Sunday 16 December, 6.30pm
Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon. A gift to Hospiscare in your Will helps to ensure the future of the charity in Devon for generations to come.
