Remember someone special at Tree of Light
St Catherine’s Hospice is inviting local residents to come together and remember loved ones at its annual Tree of Light service.
Taking place on Sunday 10 December at the K2 Leisure Centre, Crawley, from 3pm, the moving event offers bereaved family and friends an opportunity to reflect on the year that’s passed and honour someone special by dedicating a star in their memory.
Everyone who attends is invited to place a dedication star on the Tree of Light with an in memory donation for each star encouraged. By dedicating a star, you’re not only remembering the person you love, you’re also helping other people’s loved ones. Your donations allow St Catherine’s to help people to live as well as they can, for as long as they can, giving them chance to spend treasured time with family and friends.
This year’s service will include music from Dorking’s Loud and Proud Community Choir and carefully chosen readings before tea and coffee is served after the service. Counsellors from St Catherine’s will also be on hand to speak to anyone who would find this helpful.
St Catherine’s Tree of Light is open to everyone, regardless of whether they’ve known someone cared for by the hospice.
Rev Lisa Rainier, Spiritual Care Lead for St Catherine’s, said: “Losing someone close can be one of life’s hardest experiences and Christmas can be an especially difficult and poignant time of year. Traditionally, Christmas is a time to be with family and friends so Tree of Light is a great way to remind those who are bereaved in our local community that we understand their feelings of loss and that we’re here to offer them support.
At Tree of Light, our decorated trees stand as beautiful, shining memorials to the people we all love and miss and although services are designed to allow people to reflect on their loss, and reassure them that their feelings are normal, ultimately, they’re uplifting. In fact, many people tell me that after attending Tree of Light they feel more able to appreciate and engage with the spirit of the festive season.”
If you can’t attend the K2 service, there is another Crawley service taking place on the same day (Sunday 10 December) at Crawley United Reformed Church, Worth Park Avenue, RH10 3DF at 4pm and there are other smaller services in churches throughout the local area on Sunday 3 December. You can find out details of our services here
For more information on making a donation, attending the K2 Tree of Light or a service more local to you please contact Semeena Khan at St Catherine’s on 01293 583059 or email: remembering@stch.org.uk
St Catherine’s is only able to provide the very best end of life care to local terminally ill people when it’s needed most thanks to the generosity of supporters. Please consider supporting your local hospice with a donation
