Arthur Rank Hospice Charity invites you to remember and celebrate the lives of people you love on Sunday 5 December with Light up a Life, sponsored by Peasgood & Skeates. Regardless of whether you have had experience of the Hospice’s care and services, you’re warmly invited to be part of the event with family and friends.
Light up a Life will take place in the Hospice’s grounds at Shelford Bottom at 5pm on the first Sunday of December. The event will be filmed and shared post-event for those who wish to watch it for the first time, or again, in comfort of their own home.
The special evening is a wonderful opportunity for people to join-together with an extraordinary community of colleagues, volunteers, supporters and friends, to reflect, remember and look ahead to the future with hope. As those who have experienced the Charity’s services will know, the community embraces everyone and welcomes people of all faiths and none. Sing! Choirs will perform some beautiful choral pieces of music, and there will be poignant readings of poetry and prose.
Keith Morrison, Arthur Rank Hospice’s Patient and Family Support Team Lead, explains why Light up a Life is so important:
“It’s an opportunity for people to choose to come and remember. So often, people feel that they’re ambushed by their grief. By choosing to take part in Light up a Life – whether joining in-person or engaging online – you are deciding for yourself ‘today I’m going to remember’. The idea is that through the poems, music and thoughts we share during the event, you find a connection with the way you feel. That’s helpful because it helps you understand that the way you feel, in most regards, is shared by others.”
One of the most beautiful moments of Light up a Life, is when the twinkling lights adorning the 22-foot Christmas Tree are turned on. They continue to shine across the festive season between 5 December and twelfth night on 5 January 2022 and have a special significance for each person who chooses to remember loved ones. As part of the Light up a Life appeal, supporters are invited to include the names of loved ones in the Commemorative Booklet, as well as write a personal message on the back of a star. Once the stars are returned, they will be displayed in the upstairs windows at the front of the Hospice – a symbol of care, support and community.
Dr Victoria Montgomery, Lead Clinical Psychologist at Arthur Rank Hospice Charity explains why donations given in relation to Light up a Life are so important right now:
“This recent pandemic has added layers of complication for those who are grieving. The demands on our resources are greater than ever before. With a significant increase in referrals to our team, we want to ensure we can be there for those who need us today, and for those who will need us in the future.
It is my privilege to be there for people when they need our care but living on after a loved one has died always requires the support of our communities. Over recent months we have started reconnecting with our own support networks, and I see the difference this makes to the emotional wellbeing of us all. In such a significant way, your donation to this Light up a Life appeal is a continuation of that community support, as you help us to be there for people when they need us. Thank you.”
The Hospice invites you to donate and share the names of loved ones by Wednesday 17 November at arhc.org.uk/lual. A copy of the Light up a Life Commemorative Booklet will be posted to each person who donates in memory of someone. For more details about the event visit the website or call 01223 675888.
Light up a Life makes a significant contribution towards the £3.52 million which needs to be raised by the Charity this year, to support people living in Cambridgeshire living with an advanced serious illness or other life-limiting condition and those who need end-of-life care. Thanks to the invaluable support of the local community, over 4,000 patients are cared for each year free of charge at the Hospice in Shelford Bottom, the Day Treatment Centre in Wisbech and in people’s own homes across Cambridgeshire via the Arthur Rank Community Team.
