This festive season, Rowcroft Hospice is inviting everyone to take part in its ‘Light up a Life’ celebration by dedicating a light on Rowcroft’s ‘Tree of Light’ to honour and remember the people we love and miss.
Sisters Lizzie Hurford and Vicky Walbrugh from Torquay will be dedicating lights for their late Mum and Dad, Tracy and Steve Wright. “Christmas Day won’t be the same for us this year,” said Lizzie and Vicky. “While Mum died some time ago, this December we’ll have our first Christmas without our Dad. We miss them both more than words can say, but we’re comforted to be able to honour their lives and show our love by dedicating a light for them on Rowcroft’s Tree of Light. Through our dedication and donation, we’ll be helping Rowcroft to care for other families in need – just as the hospice cared for us.
“The Rowcroft care teams were there for Dad during the ups and downs of his long-term lung condition, but it was during his final days that their light truly shone the brightest. Just after Christmas last year, Rowcroft’s Hospice at Home team cared for Dad in his Torquay home. They were empathetic and understanding but also assertive and guiding.
“The nurses took the lead and were the adults when we needed to be Dad’s children. They were the lights at the front door when darkness had crept upon us.
“Most importantly, having care at home from the Rowcroft team meant that Dad was able to stay in his home as per his wishes. The home he loved.”
Through Light up a Life, Vicky and Lizzie hope that their dedications will shine as something tangible and symbolic to them in their grief. Not only representing the beauty and excitement of Christmas, a time of year that their parents loved and made special for them, but also the hope and power of light.
If you’d like to dedicate a light in memory of someone you love and miss, then please go to www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/LUAL. Everyone who makes a dedication will be invited to the ‘Light up a Life’ celebration on Sunday 3 December at 4pm in the grounds of the hospice in Avenue Road, Torquay, where there will be poignant readings, moving poems, soothing music, quiet time for reflection as well as the illumination of the Tree of Light.
Those dedicating a light will also have the opportunity to place a dedication in Rowcroft’s beautiful remembrance book – the Book of Light – which is on display at the Sanctuary at Rowcroft Hospice throughout the year.
Rowcroft’s In Memory Giving and Legacy Manager Rebecca Cogger said: “Our Light up a Life celebration is for everyone, not just those families cared for by Rowcroft. Your dedication enables you to celebrate the life of a loved one, and through a small donation, you can make a real difference to the lives of so many local patients and families needing Rowcroft’s expert care and support this Christmas.
“With an escalating demand for end-of-life and palliative care here in South Devon, due to the increasing needs of an ageing local population, never before has our specialist care been so needed. As a charity, we’re aware that thousands of people in South Devon are missing out on the vital end-of-life care that they deserve, due to a critical national gap in resources and funding. Through donations we’re hoping to expand our care to be able to reach more people, but we need the support of our community more than ever to do this.”
Rowcroft’s Light up a Life event is generously sponsored by Wollens Solicitors of Torquay. Chris Hart, Chief Executive of Wollens, said:
“We are delighted to support ‘Light up a Life’ again in 2023. The Tree of Life provides a meaningful way to remember and honour loved ones who have been lost. At Wollens we recognise the importance of this initiative and the valuable work that Rowcroft undertakes in the South Devon community. Once again we are hugely grateful for the support that they provide to individuals and their families.”
To find out more about Light up a Life or to make a dedication, please visit www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/light or telephone: 01803 217642.
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