Light up a Life is a chance for you to remember and celebrate the lives of your loved ones by dedicating a light this Christmas. Your light will shine brightly on the beautiful Christmas trees at St Gemma’s Hospice, throughout the festive season.
St Gemma’s usually holds remembrance events at the Hospice and the Immaculate Heart Church for people to attend in person – sadly these will not be going ahead this year to protect you, our staff and volunteers and patients and families during the coronavirus pandemic. This is why we will be broadcasting Light up a Life Online instead. We know it is an important event to many people and we want to make sure it still goes ahead, even if it will be a little different!
Light up a Life Online is an opportunity for people across Leeds to come together and celebrate those special people we are missing. We can all draw strength and comfort from one another and know we are not alone, as we take time to remember those who mean so much to us.
Light up a Life Online will be broadcast live from the Hospice
on Sunday 13th December at 5pm.
Please check back for the link to the live stream.
This will be a chance for reflection, celebration and remembrance. Light up a Life Online will be broadcast live from St Gemma’s Hospice, with music, readings from staff, and a visual roll call of all the names that have been dedicated. During the event, the thousands of lights on the Hospice trees will be switched on – each light shining in memory of a special life.
When you dedicate a light, you will receive a special home pack. It will also include a tribute card personalised with your dedications, a commemorative programme, a limited-edition wooden decoration and a candle for you to light at home when you watch Light up a Life Online, or in your own time.
Your home pack will be full of ways to remember and celebrate your loved ones, and tips to look after yourself over the Christmas period, as we know this can be a particularly difficult time.
This year Northern Trains Limited have kindly sponsored our Light up a Life home packs, so your donation goes directly to patients and families facing the toughest of times.
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Light up a Life Online will be broadcast live from St Gemma’s on Sunday 13th December at 5pm. It will be broadcast via YouTube. You can watch on your phone, tablet or computer.
Go to thie link provided five or ten minutes before it is due to start.
There will be music, readings, time for reflection and the all important Christmas tree light switch on. The link also has an online message board, where you can share your thoughts and memories with each other throughout the event.
The event is free for anyone to watch. However, if you would like to dedicate a light to a loved one and receive your special home pack, you can make a donation of your choice.
You will receive a special Light up a Life home pack. It will include personalised dedication cards, a booklet with printed readings, tips for remembering loved ones at Christmas, a limited-edition decoration, and a candle which you can light at home during Light up a Life Online, or in your own time.
Our annual Light up a Life event is normally attended by thousands of people each year. Some people may have recently lost a loved one. Others attend every year to remember someone they have lost many years before. This year we hope people from all across Leeds, can come together and remember those we have lost – whether or not your loved one was cared for by St Gemma’s.
Unfortunately in these uncertain times, we have made the difficult decision not to hold an event at the Hospice in 2020. Light up a Life Online will be filmed live and broadcast from the Hospice. Although the service will be different this year, it will still be a very special evening of remembrance.
We know that not everyone will have access to a phone, tablet or computer to watch the event online. You can call us on 0113 306 9170 for any technical support or to request a DVD of the event, which you will receive after the 13th December.
Your home pack will also contain everything you need to remember your loved one in your own time at home.
We very much look forward to welcoming you back to the Hospice for future events when things are back to normal.
If you have any further questions or to make your donation over the phone, please get in touch with Sophia on 0113 218 5506.
You can also share a dedication message to your loved on our Light up a Life Memory Wall, to remember and celebrate their life.
The Memory Wall provides a place for the whole community to share a message and special photograph, so we can see that we are not alone in missing someone special.
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