Join us for a celebration of life – and a celebration of local hospice care.
We warmly invite you and your loved ones to join us on Wednesday 3rd December here at the day centre for our poignant, uplifting Light up a Life Service.
Our event will begin at 6pm in the grounds of the Hospice at Festival Drive. You will be greeted by the heart-warming sounds of Abergavenny Borough Band, our service will last around an hour. We’ll have music, a wonderful choir, readings and familiar hymns that we’ll sing together.
At the end of our short service we will all gather round our wonderful Christmas tree as we switch on the lights, each light shining brightly in memory of someone very special. We very much hope you and your loved ones will choose to be with us and stay to enjoy warming refreshments following the service.
Spaces are free for the event, but we are limited on spaces, therefore please complete the booking form to confirm your attendance and how many people will be coming with you.
For those that cannot attend the service, we will be live streaming it via our Facebook page (HOTVFundraisingDept), so you can watch along from home. We can also send you a “Light up a Life at home’ pack, which contains an order of service and a candle for you to light at home during the service.
Finally, we ask if you would be able to make a donation to our Hospice for Light up a Life, to help cover the costs of the support we’ll be delivering to patients and families in the Valleys over the holidays. The clinical team will be out in people’s homes, every day, giving them and their loved ones the support they need to live as well as they possibly can – for as long as they have left, making special memories with those that they love and care about.
The truth is, we can only continue to support people in our local community of Blaenau Gwent – at the most vulnerable time in their lives – if local people continue to support us.
Therefore when you make your dedication to your loved one as part of our Light up a Life campaign, we would be so grateful if you could make a donation to support the work our clinical teams provide for patients and their loved ones at such difficult time in their lives.
You can either make your dedication directly onto our virtual tree by clicking here or by contacting us, either way we will ensure that your dedication appears on our virtual tree and on our tree here in the Hospice.
Sadly, Tina will be remembering her husband Pete this Christmas, Pete passed away in December 2024 and was supported by the Hospice.
“The hospice gave Pete the care he needed and that is such a comfort for me. But they also supported me and still do! by helping me in my grief. It’s at the hospice bereavement group that I found out about Light up a Life. I will be attending this year to remember and celebrate Pete’s life”
Your kind gift will help ensure the Hospice is there to continue supporting patients like Pete and his wife Tina, making sure they have the care and support they deserve, when they need it the most.
Join us for our Light up a Life service:
Service Details:
Wednesday 3rd December, 6pm – Hospice of the Valleys day centre, NP23 8XF (please note spaces for this service will be limited so it is imperative that book your space)
You don’t need to have a connection with the hospice to join our heart-warming and up-lifting Light up a Life service – everyone in our local community is warmly invited to come along (just let us know you are attending)
For further information on the campaign please contact:
Fundraising@hospiceofthevalleys.com or call 01495 717277
Tina’s story
I will be attending Light up a Life this year to remember and celebrate Pete’s life.
My husband Pete was a character. He had a big, booming voice; you heard him before you saw him! He was a dog handler with the prison service lots of people in Ebbw Vale will have got used to seeing him and Charlie, his dog, out for walks around the town.
When Pete was taken ill, it was a shock to us both. He was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer which then spread to his pelvis, causing him a lot of pain. Following surgery Pete was discharged from hospital and it was at this point we were advised to contact the hospice. That’s when we first met Kim. She came out and so calmly organised a hospital bed for our home and helped me turn our lounge into Pete’s bedroom. She reassured me that the hospice would be there for Pete and me, whenever we needed them and they were.
Pete stayed positive, and funny. We had friends around most days, and Charlie was constantly by his side, “Charlie keeps me going!” he would say. Kim and the team continued to call just to make sure we were both doing ok.
As Christmas approached Pete was stable and even helped me decorate the Christmas tree (which he had never done before)! Then one morning out of the blue, a blood clot moved caused Pete to haemorrhage and he became very unwell. Kim came straight out and helped get Pete into hospital.
Pete passed away in hospital surrounded by family and friends and his beloved Charlie.
The hospice gave Pete the care he needed and that is such a comfort for me. But they also supported me and still do! by helping me in my grief. It’s at the hospice bereavement group that I found out about Light up a Life. I will be attending this year to remember and celebrate Pete’s life.
I’ll also be donating what I can to help others like Pete and me get the care and support they need, not just at Christmas but all year round. I hope you’ll join me.
Tina
