The Specialist Palliative Care Team at The James Cook University Hospital is inviting families to remember loved ones who have sadly died in South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation trust hospitals by placing a dedication on their memorial Christmas tree.

You can pay tribute to the lives of friends and family by writing a small dedication, these will then be placed inside a love bauble and added to the memorial trees which are based at the south entrance at The James Cook University Hospital and in the centre of the Friarage Hospital.

We are asking that you make a minimum donation of £2.00 and the money raised from the baubles will continue to support the palliative care Dragonfly Scheme. This scheme allows the palliative care team to provide comfort bags and memory boxes to the relatives of patients receiving end of life care. This is their way of offering that extra support to families in remembering their loved ones, and to help them cope at such a difficult time.

*While restricted visiting is in place we will be sharing photographs of the trees on social media over the coming weeks.

Macmillan palliative and end of life support sister, Laura Graham, said: "Festive period brings joy for many, but for others Christmas time can be difficult if you have lost someone special.

This year has been so difficult with COVID-19, and visiting restrictions have meant that loved ones have not been able to be with them in person as frequently, so we really wanted to invite the local community to add a message for their loved on our new memorial tree".