Event Details
Light Up a Life event on Sunday 8th December
Our annual Light Up a Life service offers a wonderful opportunity to take time out to remember and honour those who hold a special place in our hearts.
We’ll be returning to our beautiful Hospice grounds for another heartfelt service starting at 4.30pm. The service will last about 35 minutes and include readings, carols, and a poignant moment when we light up the LOROS Christmas tree.
You are welcome to arrive from 3pm on the day to visit our chapel and hang a star on the tree. You will be able to view your loved one’s name in the Book of Remembrance and be part of the service to view the wonderful Christmas tree with its lights shining for all those no longer with us.
Make a donation to the LOROS Light Up a Life Appeal to remember those who you’ll be missing this Christmas. Just £25 will pay for an hour of care, giving families one final opportunity to create lasting memories with their loved ones that they will treasure for years to come.
In addition to the service, the LOROS Memory Light Trail will also return in December. Weaving round the tranquil gardens of LOROS Hospice, the trail offers the unique opportunity to take some time out to remember your loved ones in a poignant setting.
The LOROS Memory Light Trail
The LOROS Memory Light will be open for an entire week. From 4pm-7pm on Thursday 5th December - Wednesday 11th December all are welcome to explore the magical Memory Light Trail where thousands of lights will shine in memory of all our loved ones. The trail offers the perfect opportunity for quiet and private remembrance in a beautiful setting.
LOROS is a special place and we want to share it with everyone. You don’t need to have any previous connection to LOROS in order to attend the service or explore the Light Trail, so please do encourage friends, family and loved ones to get involved too.
The LOROS Light Up a Life Appeal
Make a donation to the LOROS Light Up a Life Appeal to remember those who you’ll be missing this Christmas. Just £25 will pay for an hour of care, giving families one final opportunity to create lasting memories with their loved ones that they will treasure for years to come.
Emma's story
LOROS brought light into the darkness
Read why Emma is supporting Light Up a Life
"In March 2017 my husband Chris was diagnosed with stage 4 oesophageal cancer. He was 42. Our children, Annie and Hugo, were 10 and 9 at the time but right from the beginning, we always talked to the kids about what was happening. That was really important to me."
"Chris didn’t want to know his prognosis and he didn’t want to know he was dying. It was hard. I was trying to plan ahead so I could cushion the kids as much as possible as well as support Chris and deal with the here and now of appointments, tests, treatments."
"For a while things looked hopeful. Chris was doing so well on the chemo. He didn’t lose his hair and everything was stable. Then in March 2018, it seemed like things changed."
"Chris had a seizure the day before he was due to start the radiotherapy. We went to A&E and they scanned his brain and found it was full of tumours. They kept him in and it was then we knew that this was it, he was deteriorating rapidly."
"Chris was desperate to go home but I just couldn’t care for him there. He was getting up 12 or 13 times a night so I knew that going home wasn’t an option for us. They looked for a bed at LOROS for him, and he agreed to go."
"So we came to LOROS. He had a room of his own and a view of the garden. Later that day he said to his brother, ‘this is my room now’, and I was so relieved he felt relaxed here. I’d persuaded him to come to LOROS to give all of us the right choice."
"We were here constantly for those two weeks and got to know the amazing staff. They fed us and made us cups of tea all the time."
"LOROS is brilliant because there were things that could distract the children. The fish became a big part of their lives! They enabled them to be part of Chris’s final days, when otherwise it might have been too difficult. The children were even allowed to feed them. Little things like that made their experience less traumatic, and knowing they were okay helped make me okay."
"On 23rd August it was my son’s birthday and the nurses threw a party for him, decorating Chris’s room with banners and the catering team even made him a special birthday cake. Chris died three days later."
"I cannot say enough about the difference being in LOROS made to our saying goodbye. Quite simply it gave us a window to be a family again. LOROS completely changed what could have been a terrible ending, and we now have such fond memories and we’re able to see the good times that we spent together."
"On Chris’s stone we’ve had engraved ‘his light shines on’ and that’s what LOROS did for us, bring light to the darkness."
If you have any queries or would like further information, please contact our Supporter Care team by sending an email to supportercare@loros.co.uk
