THE chance for people to celebrate the lives of family and friends they have lost to illness is once again on offer in north Essex.

St Helena Hospice has started putting out dedication forms for the series of Light up a Life services it organises each Christmas.

The Colchester-based charity is also this year inviting people to dedicate a light to living loved ones they are unable to be with over the festive period.

Participants in both schemes will be asked to pay a donation to the hospice, to help it raise funds.

Once the dedication form and donation is returned, the hospice sends out a card with the dedication on.

The dedication will appear in a special Light up a Life Dedication Book, to be displayed in the town halls in Colchester and Clacton and at the St Helena Hospice shop, in Halstead, from January of next year.

The services are open to everyone and will begin on Friday, December 3 at St James’s Church, in High Street, Brightlingsea.

Each event includes Christmas carols and readings. Services will also take place on Wednesday, December 8 at St Peter and St Paul Church in High Street, West Mersea, at Colchester Castle on Sunday, December 12 and at Emmanuel Church in New Pier Street, Clacton, on Monday, December 13.

There will be further celebrations at the United Reformed Church, Carnarvon Road, Clacton, on Tuesday December 14, at Hole Farm, Knowl Green, Belchamp St Paul, on Wednesday December 15, and in the hospice itself, at Myland Hall, Barncroft Close, High Woods, Colchester, on Thursday December 16.

Dedication forms are available from each of the St Helena Hospice shops, from Myland Hall, from the hospice’s fundraising office, in Barrack Street, Colchester, and from its day centres in Colchester and Clacton. They can also be obtained by phoning the fundraising office on 01206 791740.