People from across the district are invited to join Martin House Children’s Hospice as it holds its annual Light up a Life service in Boston Spa next week.
The service will take place at St Mary’s Church, High Street, Boston Spa, on Tuesday 6 December at 7pm.
Light up a Life is part of the bereavement support Martin House offers to families, and gives them the opportunity to come together to remember their children at Christmas, but is also open to anyone who would like to remember a loved one.
Mark Clayton, chaplain at Martin House, said:
At such a busy time of year, Light up a Life offers families the chance to have the space and time to remember their child.
Our service provides a shared moment of remembrance, where we can reflect on and celebrate their lives, as well as offering that opportunity to the wider community.
Martin House cares for children and young people from across West, North and East Yorkshire, providing respite stays, symptom control, emergency care, end of life care and care after death.
It also supports families throughout the life of their child, and in bereavement, and provides care at the hospice, in hospitals and in people’s own homes.
As well as the service, there is also an online book of dedication, where people can leave a message and upload a picture of their loved one. It is available at www.martinhouse.org.uk/lightupalife
- Martin House has been providing family-led care and support for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions for 35 years (life-limiting means the child or young person is not expected to live beyond young adulthood).
- Every year we support over 425 children and young people, and their families plus more than 150 bereaved families across West, North and East Yorkshire, at our hospice, in hospitals and in families’ own homes.
- The hospice, based in Boston Spa, has nine bedrooms in Martin House, and six in Whitby Lodge, which cares for teenagers and young people. Our services include respite stays, symptom control, emergency care, community care and end of life care.
- Bereavement support is offered to families, often for two to three years after their child’s death. We also offer bereavement support to families whose child had a life-limiting condition but did not have the opportunity to use the hospice, or following a sudden death.
- Martin House hosts one of only three specialist training places in the UK for consultants in paediatric palliative medicine, alongside placements in London (Great Ormond Street Hospital) and Cardiff.
- There is no cost to any of the families using our services. It costs nearly £9 million a year to provide this care, the majority of which comes from voluntary donations and fundraising.
