MORE than 1,000 names will be remembered at a special Christmas service to raise money for two Leeds hospices.
The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Light Up a Life carol service will take place tomorrow in the Courtyard of The Light shopping centre at 6
pm.
All donations received will go towards the YEP’s Half and Half Appeal to help fund Wheatfields and St Gemma’s Hospices.
The names of all those for whom a light has been sponsored will be listed on an Honours Board which will stand in the Courtyard at The Light, off The Headrow, from tomorrow until the end of the Christmas period.
The board has been made by FastSigns, of York Road, Leeds.
Readers have been invited to sponsor a twinkling Christmas light, to celebrate the life of someone special.
Tree
The deadline for applications to have a light and a name remembered has now passed, but the ceremony is open to all.
Already more than 1,000 names have been nominated and many thousands of pounds raised.
Hundreds of lights will be placed on a huge Christmas tree to be erected opposite St Anne’s Cathedral in The Light.
Every light on the tree is dedicated to a loved one, or in memory of someone close.
As well as being listed on the roll of honour beside the tree, their names have also appeared in the YEP.
To celebrate the illumination, a brass band and choir will perform in The Courtyard.
Last year’s Light Up a Life Appeal raised £8,898.50, with more than 1,000 people remembered with lights on the Christmas tree.
Nurse Mary Murphy, who has worked at Wheatfields for 28 years, said: “Light Up a Life is a great opportunity to remember a loved one.
“All the money raised will help Wheatfields and St Gemma’s to provide vital care for patients and their families.”
YEP readers have helped to make the Half and Half Appeal the longest-running charity campaign in regional newspaper history.
Last year £180,000 was raised, with the proceeds split 50-50 between the two hospices, which treat 1,000 people every year.
alison.bellamy@ypn.co.uk
