TAVISTOCK Town Hall will be a mass of lights when the Trees of Light are switched on at the end of November. Keith Penney, president of the Lions Club of Tavistock, will perform the ceremony on Friday, November 24 at 7pm. Each bulb will have been sponsored by an individual or family in memory of a loved one or a good cause, with all the proceeds going to local charities Children's Hospice South West and Tavistock Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. The switching on will be followed by a short interdenominational service led by local clergy, after which the rest of the town will be illuminated with the main Christmas lights. This is the eighth year the Lions Club has organised the trees and to date more than £20,000 has been raised. For the third year locally-based funeral directors Morris (Bros) Tavistock Ltd will be the main sponsor, and Tavistock Woodlands will supply the main tree. Lion Roger Lethbridge thanked both firms for their support, together with the Tavistock Times Gazette for publishing the application form and Tavistock Town Council and staff for their assistance in erecting the trees. More than £1,500 has been received so far this year from previous donors, and in February £2,350 was given to both Children's Hospice South West and Macmillan Nurses from the money raised from last year's trees. Anyone wishing to sponsor a light on this year's trees should fill in the form which will be published in future editions of the Times and return it to Roger Lethbridge. A full list of donors will be published just before Christmas and each will receive a commemorative card in the New Year.
