People remember their loved ones at Light Up A Life event in Gainsborough

The festive season can often be the most difficult time of year for people grieving over the death of family and friends.
People gathered to remember their loved onesPeople gathered to remember their loved ones
People gathered to remember their loved ones

So St Barnabas Hospice have been inviting members of the community to remember those they will never forget at their annual Light Up A Life celebrations.

A Light Up A Life event is part of a county wide celebration to remember loved ones in the build up to Christmas where people are invited to dedicate a special message to someone which is then hung on the Tree of Life.

The Gainsborough event was held at the United Reformed Church in Gladstone Street on Tuesday, December 4, and featured readings, music and a quiet time for reflection, while candles were lit in remembrance.

Adrian Oke, fundraising development manager at St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice, said: “It was a heart warming event with the best turnout we’ve seen for years.

“Faces old and new came along to remember their loved ones who are no longer with us, whether they benefitted from time with the hospice or not.

“It was an event that brought the teams within St Barnabas together, and an event that will certainly stay with me for a long time.”

A poignant film was also included in this year’s event as part of the ‘I Remember When’ campaign to get people to think positively about friends and relatives who have died.

The film, which can be watched on YouTube, has encouraged staff and supporters of the hospice to share their own special memories of those no longer with us.