Isobel, shares her story on why she supports Light up a Life. 

"I’ll never forget the broken 21-year-old I was, with no support, and I want you to be there for other young people who lose a parent to cancer". 

I lost both my parents to cancer, my father when I was 21 and my mother when I was 44.

My mother spent three weeks in a Hospice down in the south east where she lived, I moved up to Guisborough but visited her a lot. When she died in 2004, they told me that if I ever wanted bereavement counselling, I should just contact my local hospice.

I decided I needed that support and called Teesside Hospice who arranged for me to see a counsellor.

It helped SO much.

The counsellor helped me realise that I had never been able to grieve properly for my father, who passed away while I was at university, and I never got to say goodbye. So, I needed to process his death as well as my mother's.

I am still so thankful that the hospice was there for me when I needed help, which is why I have supported the hospice since I attended my counselling in 2005.

I participate in the Light up a Life as my parents both loved Christmas. To be able to write their names and place their memory on a Christmas tree, brings such a comfort to me, like I can still celebrate Christmas with them.

The support I received was life-changing, uplifting, and positive and shaped my life after that in many ways, I decided to follow a route into social care, and I became a suicide prevention officer.

You’ve been there for me and changed my life, why wouldn’t I for other people?

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